{"id":494099,"date":"2026-10-13T00:36:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T00:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/494099\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T00:36:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T00:36:08","slug":"sausalito-approves-mural-for-downtown-stairs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/494099\/","title":{"rendered":"Sausalito approves mural for downtown stairs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sausalito might soon get its first new public art in more than 30 years \u2014 a colorful painted mural on downtown steps.<\/p>\n

The City Council voted Oct. 5 to accept a donated mural for the Excelsior Stairs on Bridgeway across from Vi\u00f1a del Mar Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is going to spark more projects in town and this is a spectacular start to that,\u201d Mayor Steven Woodside said.<\/p>\n

The Parks and Recreation Commission recommended the mural.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only is it our first use of the Park and Rec new system for improving public art, but it\u2019s a partnership with our sister cities,\u201d Vice Mayor Melissa Blaustein said. \u201cThis is just a triumph.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mural, sponsored by Sausalito Sister Cities, a nonprofit, will be painted by Sausalito artist Raylene Gorum.<\/p>\n

Gorum designed the \u201cAll Our Children United\u201d mural on the Highway 101 underpass between Sausalito and Marin City.<\/p>\n

Vi\u00f1a del Mar, Chile, became Sausalito\u2019s first sister city in 1960. Sakaide, Japan, followed in 1988. Cascais, Portugal, in 2013.<\/p>\n

Recent exchanges with Vi\u00f1a del Mar have focused on women-led businesses and fire departments sharing best practices \u2013 including the Southern Marin Fire Protection District donating an out-of-use engine.<\/p>\n

The mural will be painted on the gray cement stairway\u2019s risers between its 52 steps. It features two women embracing a globe of the western hemisphere with imagery from wine-growing regions.<\/p>\n

At the bottom, above a dress whose pleats are rows of grapevines, is Gabriela Mistral, a Nobel Prize-winning Chilean writer. At top, below a flower-filled arbor, is a Sausalito woman embracing the globe.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will add color and vitality,\u201d said Caroline Revell of Sausalito Beautiful and the Downtown Sausalito Association during public comments.\u00a0\u201cBoth our organizations endorse the proposed mural as another contribution to beautifying and enlivening our downtown.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tremendously gratifying that, thanks to the work of staff and my fellow commissioners, the first approval of public art under our new policy moved so quickly,\u201d said Stacy Kray, chair of the parks commission. \u201cI\u2019m also thrilled that Raylene\u2019s artwork will embrace \u2013 quite literally \u2013 Sausalito\u2019s relationship with our sister city Vi\u00f1a Del Mar, and honor the first Latin American writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, the City Council adopted a new five-step review process in which the commission vets applications for public artwork and recommends the council accept proposals.<\/p>\n

The art is donated. In this case, the stairway project has a $100,000 budget and is seeking tax-deductible donations, said Robert Miros, a Sausalito Sister Cities board member.<\/p>\n

To date, it has received a $5,200 grant from the county and a $10,000 donation, he said. The sister cities project is hoping to raise the balance and paint the steps by next spring.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur plan is to \u2018sell steps,\u2019 meaning that at certain levels of funding you will be recognized as having supported a specific step,\u201d Miros said. \u201cDetails are still coming together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bryan Vitali, city community services director, said the project is \u201crequesting city support\u201d to power wash and prep the stairs for resurfacing, which could cost $8,500.<\/p>\n

The project\u2019s supporters brought a 1\/12th scale model of the stairs and mural to the council meeting. It can be seen at the City Hall library branch.<\/p>\n

\"AnAn artist\u2019s rendering shows a proposed mural for the Excelsior Stairs above Bridgeway at Bay Street. (Provided by City of Sausalito)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sausalito might soon get its first new public art in more than 30 years \u2014 a colorful painted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":494100,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[7,181,23,992,100,180,993,266,101,103,102,3624,3625,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-494099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-california","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-marin-county","tag-news","tag-newsletter","tag-north-bay","tag-northern-california","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sausalito","tag-sausalito-city-council","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=494099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/494100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=494099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=494099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=494099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}