KING CITY — Sun Street Centers hosted a ribbon cutting and art exhibition on June 2 at the King City facility in honor of its newly completed mural, which was created in collaboration between pre-diversion program students, STEPS students, Arts Council for Monterey County and artist Bryan Lustre.
Artwork created by students was on display inside the center for the public to view and purchase. Those art pieces will be on display for the next month.
“It all started last summer when Covid hit and the schools closed and the students were stuck with nothing to do,” said Anna Foglia, CEO of Sun Street Centers. “Arts Council for Monterey County reached out and was one of the first people that wanted to do a project with us during Covid, so we started doing classes in Gonzales and in King City.”
Foglia commended the teamwork, with the contributors having worked on weekends through Easter to complete the mural.
“This mural is made up of a lot of intense feelings that the students were having during Covid,” Foglia said.
She added that the original themes were dark in reaction to the pandemic but developed into more positive images as time went on.
“This mural started differently than you have here today, it ran through different designs,” Lustre explained. “This whole mural is about growth.”
He said the process of working with an average of six students at a time on the mural helped them develop vocational skills, not only in art but also in learning what it was like to put in work toward a large project.
Also in attendance at the ceremony was Mike LeBarre, King City’s mayor.
“Our community has been so strong when it comes to bringing in beautiful things,” LeBarre said. “You can see how worthwhile it is and will forever make our city brighter and nicer.”
