OAKLAND, Calif. — For one muralist, it was nearly instant. For another group, it took a few days to realize Alysa Liu’s golden moment in the Olympic spotlight was worthy of enshrinement.

The beginnings of a Los Angeles-area mural by artist Gustavo Zermeño Jr., depicting a now-iconic image of Liu biting her individual figure skating gold medal at the Milan Cortina Games, went viral Tuesday. The 20-year-old Liu has ties to the area as a UCLA student. However, the place she calls home, where she trains and has been hailed as a “hero,” is roughly 400 miles north.

The Illuminaries, a local mural and design collective in Oakland, started their own Liu project Friday in the city’s Temescal neighborhood after being flooded with requests.

“Once she did that pose, the ‘thizz face’ pose, so many people hit us up and sent us the pictures,” Illuminaries member Steve Ha said.

The group was previously known for its piece depicting Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry doing his “thizz face” in 2015. Still, the Illuminaries initially weren’t sure they wanted to hop on the Liu “bandwagon,” Ha said. “To be honest, we didn’t even know who she was. But after reading more about her story, and seeing she’s such an inspiration, it was like, ‘How could we not?’”

Zermeño continued to add elements to his mural in Los Angeles on Friday. His artwork is often based on athletes who inspire him. And once he heard Liu’s story, he was motivated to paint.

“I want to do something special not just for her, but for the community here,” Zermeño said.

A Los Angeles-area mural by artist Gustavo Zermeño Jr. went viral within days of Alysa Liu winning Olympic gold. (Mark Kim / The Athletic)

Ha and his team saw the L.A. mural and were goaded on by Bay Area fans’ messages and social media tags. So they decided to put their own spin on it, stylizing it in the “Illuminaries way” — and funding the project out of their own pockets.

“We wanted to show the Bay has style,” Ha said. “We’re gonna do it, but we’re gonna do it with style.”

Zermeño said he doesn’t mind if other Liu murals pop up. The same thing happened in the wake of Kobe Bryant’s death, when he and artists across Southern California were inspired to honor the Los Angeles Lakers star. Zermeño said that more murals inspire artists to step outside their comfort zone.

“It’s a similar situation where someone has wanted to paint a mural, and now they have the inspiration to do it,” Zermeño said.

Liu, who initially retired from figure skating four years ago only to return two years later, has become a fan-favorite for doing things her way. Her performances in Milan bubbled with joy as she became the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in singles figure skating in 20 years.

“That’s what the f— I’m talking about,” she said to the camera after her gold-clinching performance.

At a watch party at Liu’s home rink on Feb. 19, former pro skater Carrie Maultsby-Lute said she felt like Liu perfectly represents the city, and “could only have come out of Oakland — to have just such unapologetic power and joy.”

“I’m just glad that I could bring Oakland to Milan,” Liu said after her win.

The Alysa Liu mural replaced an old Klay Thompson piece in Oakland’s Temescal neighborhood. (Torrey Hart / The Athletic)

Liu’s eagerness to represent Oakland — which is planning a “community-wide celebration” of Liu — stands in contrast to the professional sports organizations that have recently left The Town behind. The Illuminaries have done plenty of sports murals, many of them depicting teams — namely the Warriors and Athletics — and athletes that are no longer in Oakland.

“For her to embrace Oakland is this new energy … It’s inspiration. Oakland needs that. America needs that right now,” Ha said.

The Illuminaries’ mural, which the group plans to finish Saturday, covered one of their old pieces depicting former Golden State player Klay Thompson, who won four NBA titles with the team before joining the Dallas Mavericks in 2024.

“Art is impermanent,” Ha said. Gold? Not so much.

Thompson had seen the piece, so “for it to have had its run, for us to bless the wall, that was good enough,” Ha said. “Now it’s time for some new blood.”

— Also reported from Los Angeles.