{"id":240466,"date":"2026-03-28T05:57:39","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T05:57:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/240466\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T05:57:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T05:57:39","slug":"another-alysa-liu-mural-in-oakland-this-one-with-kristi-yamaguchi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/240466\/","title":{"rendered":"Another Alysa Liu mural in Oakland \u2014 this one with Kristi Yamaguchi"},"content":{"rendered":"

Artist Julie Engelmann swiftly moves her hand across a wall, spraying pale yellow paint to make blond bangs. She\u2019s working on Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu\u2019s<\/a> signature dyed hair from 40 feet in the air, at the top of a construction lift outside the Oakland Ice Center.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Engelmann is transforming what was a pretty plain white wall outside Liu\u2019s practice ice into a mural that will show Liu in her gold medal skating performance alongside 1992 Olympic figure skating gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are two Olympic gold medal figure skaters that came from this area, and that should be celebrated,\u201d Engelmann, who grew up in the Bay Area and worked in an Oakland art studio for several years, told The Oaklandside. \u201cBoth are also Asian American, and both wore gold.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mural will be completed in about four weeks, she said (we\u2019ll update this story with new photos when it is), but it\u2019s already attracted attention, including from students at Oakland School for the Arts, which Liu attended for a short time, across the street. Some wave to Engelmann from the upper floor windows and others have been taking in-progress photos of her work.<\/p>\n

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The Oakland Ice Center is where Liu first learned to skate. She joined a \u201cLearn to Skate\u201d program when she was around five years old, and soon started taking private lessons at the rink, which opened in 1995 and is now owned by Sharks Ice, according to Oakland Ice Center\u2019s general manager, Glenn Martin.<\/p>\n

\"\"Liu practicing at the Oakland Ice Center in May 2025. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"\"Engelmann works on Liu\u2019s gold dress. Credit: Momo Chang for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

Liu still skates and trains there, and belongs to St. Moritz Ice Skating Club<\/a>, one of the oldest ice skating clubs on the West Coast, founded in 1931 in Oakland.<\/p>\n

On any given day, the center, which has one Olympic size rink and one National Hockey League regulation rink, attracts a mix of figure skaters and hockey players. Yesterday afternoon, Liu\u2019s coaches, Massimo Scali and Phillip DiGuglielmo, were working with other skaters, including a few high level Olympic competitors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have Olympians here,\u201d Martin said casually. Martin tells me that the Learn to Skate programs for children and adult learners averages anywhere from 400 to 700 students participating at a time, with more interest following each winter Olympics. \u201cWe\u2019ll see a spike of all new skaters giving it a try,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n

\"\"The massive mural takes shape. Engelmann expects it to take a month to complete. Credit: Momo Chang for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

Engelmann, who figure skated as a kid, reached out to the Oakland Ice Center soon after she watched Liu\u2019s Olympic free skate performance and pitched the idea, and Martin commissioned it, with the help of a group of sponsors. Yamaguchi has her own history with the Oakland Ice Center, according to Martin, who said she skated there after turning pro.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The rink was immediately on board, he said, but they wanted to take time to make sure both Liu and Yamaguchi had signed off on the design.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Martin reached out to Liu and Yamaguchi\u2019s shared agent and got their blessing. \u201cThey both love the idea,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n

Two gold dresses<\/p>\n

Oakland already has at least two other murals of Liu, including one that went up shortly after her Olympic victory by The Illuminaries<\/a> graffiti crew in Temescal, in which Liu is holding up her gold medal and making a \u201cthizz face,\u201d and another one<\/a> at Oakland\u2019s Providence Athletic Club, which shows her grinning as she holds up her medal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This one by Engelmann will be a little different \u2013 with an elegant twist \u2014 as it shows the skaters in action. She\u2019s done other large scale murals, most of them historical, which can be seen in Colma, Pacifica, Half Moon Bay, and Daly City.<\/p>\n

The mural depicts both skaters in the gold dresses they wore in their free skates that led to gold medals. On the left side of the mural will be Yamaguchi in a spiral, a move where the skater balances on one leg while gliding, with their other leg lifted high behind them. Yamaguchi\u2019s arms are outstretched and she\u2019s smiling. Underneath is \u201c1992\u201d for the year she won Olympic gold.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On the right side are two images of Liu \u2013 one from her short skate program, where she\u2019s wearing a white and silver outfit and skating to Laufey\u2019s \u201cPromise,\u201d and a larger one depicting her skating in the gold dress to Donna Summers\u2019 \u201cMacArthur Park.\u201d Underneath is \u201c2026.\u201d In the middle, there\u2019s the center\u2019s logo and the words \u201cSharks Ice Oakland.\u201d Swirls will represent the marks left on the rink by their skates and the movement of the figure skaters, and bubbles of light will represent the \u201cmagic\u201d of their performances and of the ice center itself, Engelmann said.<\/p>\n

Prior to the mural, the wall was mostly blank, except the words \u201cIce Center.\u201d Several banners also hung there, which have now been moved indoors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to reflect the sport itself and the history of the place,\u201d Engelmann said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Engelmann traced her design at night before she began to paint. Credit: Courtesy of Glenn Martin<\/p>\n

The artist, who is now based in Half Moon Bay, also paints surfboards (and surfs), but she learned the craft of mural art in Oakland\u2019s Fruitvale district. She was an assistant to Filipina American artist Allison Torneros, who goes by the moniker \u201cHueman\u201d and worked in the Oakland studio. That time helped launch what is now her full-time art career, Engelman said.<\/p>\n

Engelmann started painting the mural Monday, next to the center\u2019s front entrance on 18th Street, on a wall she estimates is about 100 feet wide. Last week, she used a projector at night to trace a stencil of the design with the help of a few assistants.<\/p>\n

While the painting is going on outside, there\u2019s another art show tucked away inside. In the upstairs gallery, about 50 pieces of artwork are on display by over 30 members of the ice skating community. There are large sculptures made of old hockey nets, paintings and drawings, and more.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Called \u201cEdgework<\/a>,\u201d a reference to edges of skate blades, the exhibition opened in February and has been extended at least through April 18. The show was curated by Mia Feuer, who is a professor at California College of the Arts \u2013 and also plays hockey in an adult league at the ice center. It\u2019s the center\u2019s first art show, and she\u2019s already thinking of another for next year. Feuer said Liu herself wants to participate in the exhibit next time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis whole show is full of art made by the same people that share the ice with Alysa Liu, and it\u2019s a real community art project,\u201d Feuer said. \u201c[The ice center is] magnetic and brings out the best in people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

As for the large mural outside, Glenn said they plan to hold a celebration when the two skaters\u2019 schedules align; Liu is currently touring with Stars on Ice until June.<\/p>\n

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