Author | Debra Gelbart
If you’ve been to San Diego’s Hillcrest neighborhood recently, you may have noticed a beautifully colorful, hand-painted mural covering two sides of the California Bank & Trust (CB&T) building at 3737 Fifth Avenue. And you may have wondered how the artwork came about and who the amazing artist is behind it. As part of a complete renovation of the Hillcrest branch, CB&T executives were looking for an element that underscored the 61-year-old building’s iconic place in thecommunity.
“We imagined how awesome it would be to have a mural as the ‘icing on the cake” once the renovation project was completed,” says David Russell, senior vice president of corporate real estate facilities at CB&T. “I loved the idea of the mural making the building part of the community, as opposed to just another renovated building in the community.”
Tapping a local talent
The renovation team knew they wanted a local artist to create the mural. After a thorough search, which included proposals from several artists, they commissioned Austin Gosswiller, a 32-year-old San Diego native who had created murals for other commercial and community enterprises in Southern California, including one at Portuguese Hall in San Diego. Gosswiller and the CB&T team worked together to come up with a design concept for the mural, which wraps around the south and east walls of the Hillcrest building. At the heart of the art is a representation of the iconic Hillcrest neighborhood sign that hangs just a few blocks away above University Avenue.
The mural also includes the historic Balboa Park Tower and Cabrillo Bridge, Harper’s Topiary Garden, the San Diego skyline and the city’s famous San Diego Zoo. It incorporates vibrant and highly saturated reds, oranges, yellows, blues and greens. Gosswiller’s friend and fellow artist Jack Stricker helped with installation of the Hillcrest mural. “I drew inspiration from what the area represents, kind of a positive vibe,” Gosswiller says. “I tested out different colors and went from there.”
The entire mural, rendered by using water-based acrylic paints, only took him about three and a half weeks in June and early July 2023 to complete.
Focal point for the community
The Hillcrest location was chosen for the mural, Russell notes,
“because it’s in an interesting and diverse area of San Diego, offering an
opportunity to reflect the bank’s diversity, as well. It seems from the
feedback we’re receiving that the community is excited and enthusiastic about
the mural. My hope is that it’s a piece of art that will further knit this
community together.” He believes this project could lead to murals at other branches.
“This mural means so much to the Hillcrest community,” says Tammy Keen,
CB&T Hillcrest branch vice president and business center manager. “Our
customers love it and have enjoyed watching the mural come to life. They
appreciate the commitment that CB&T has made to this community by
celebrating the diversity it offers.”
Keen says she was honored and proud “that my location was chosen for the mural. It’s such a wonderful feeling to know we’re investing in our community.” Gosswiller says he’s received lot of attention both while he was painting the mural and ever since. “One of the coolest aspects of doing murals is the people you meet,” he notes, adding that he hopes to travel nationally and internationally to paint professionally. “We met a bunch of people in the area who want murals of their own now. Working on the Hillcrest project was a great overall experience. Just awesome.”
This content was originally published in our award-winning magazine In Your Corner. See Issue 15 here: In Your Corner Magazine | Fall 2023