Four local high school students were brought into the spotlight Saturday for 14 mosaic artwork installations they created, which tnow adorn the exterior walls of Watsonville’s Muzzio Mosaic Arts Center.
Lizbeth Martínez-Meza, Jason Garcia Menera and Janet Rocha-Fernandez from Watsonville High School and Vividiana Bonilla from Aptos High School designed the mosaics.
Jason designed the frames around nine windows and two doorways based on an embroidered belt he acquired in his home town in Mexico, while Lizbeth, Janet and Vividiana designed three large panels that are mounted on the center’s walls that face Front and Rodriguez streets.
“I really enjoyed it because I was able to represent my community and the hard-working people,” Lizbeth said. “They’re the ones that provide so much for this city, and I am thankful and grateful to be able to implement that through my artwork and I’m really proud of it.
Kathleen Crocetti, who leads the Community Arts and Empowerment program at the Muzzio Center, headed up the ribbon cutting ceremony that brought Lizbetth and Vividiana forward to cut the ribbon for their large mosaic artwork panels.
“This was a new experience for me and it was very exciting to be working with veterans in this establishment,” Vividiana said. “It was also exciting to be able to work on this art piece being able to see how it was created to begin with. Hopefully I can still continue to work here.”
Aptos High art instructor Joel Smith added, “Viridiana is probably the most creative student I have ever had; she is naturally talented at being able to draw things right out of her head.”
The event coincided with the community’s third Second Saturday, a new year-round, free public art and cultural engagement program that spreads out around downtown Watsonville the second Saturday of each month.
“The title of these works is ‘The People in the Neighborhood,’ and we are particularly pleased to be representing our neighbors with whom we share this beautiful space,” Crocetti said.
The project was funded through a grant from the California Arts Council.
