WATSONVILLE — A new mural is in town. The mammoth colorful piece, depicting all local youths and adults standing in front of a Cessna 172, hangs above a sign, “Kids Fly Free,” a program offered to young people ages 8-17, by the Experimental Aircraft Association.
Created by Peter Bartczak of Clownbank Studios in Soquel, and based on a small color photograph, Bartczak said it took just over two months to paint. The work was painted on wood panels inside a hangar at the airport and then installed on the exterior of a hangar facing Airport Boulevard.
“The airport gave me a hangar to work on,” Bartczak said. “I was very honored. I love doing portraits and faces. They just wanted a photo they had blown up to a larger size in mural form. It’s rare that I get a job with optimum conditions and little limitation. I got to know the airport culture and the hangars there; it was one of the better settings I have worked in.”
The mural measures 13-by-30 feet.
Bartczak said the process of making a mural is “far more interesting than the finished product,” in that he met scores of people who stopped by to have a look. “I like that aspect; it’s very down to earth.”
Bartczak said he used a grid system and a digital projector to help map out the mural on the panels. Then he took on the mighty task of rendering each individual, trying to capture more than an image, but rather, a feeling or essence of each person.
“I tried to get into the soul of each individual,” he said. “I wanted to bring everyone in the photo to the table, as honest as possible.”
Tom Hail of EAA said he is depicted on the far right of the mural.
“The kids with their adult mentors in the program and the pilot of the background airplane are the bulk of the crowd,” Hail said. “This picture was taken in March of 2017 after they got a ride in this plane or one of a couple others that came out to fly kids.”
Bartczak said he “could have easily spent two years on this.”
“I didn’t get 100 percent of what I went for,” he said. “Some of the people I had to redraw four or five times. I worked on it for over a month six days a week, six to seven hours a day. They wanted it to look like the photo as much as possible. One guy in the photo came by one day and said, ‘Oh my god! It looks exactly like me.’ I love doing this stuff but once it’s almost done you get to the point where you never want to see it again.”
Chris Laws, president of EAA, said several youths who got involved with Kids Fly Free have gone on to make highly rewarding careers out of flying. Among them is Kathleen Julien who now flies as a corporate pilot for Starbucks in Seattle. Another is a pilot for FedEx.
Airport Director Rayvon Williams said pilots that fly for the Kids Fly Free program volunteer every inch of their flights, including time, fuel and insurance.
Bartczak said he learned that the airport wants to do outreach and get more involved in the community.
“This was a great way to do that,” he said. “Programs like Kids Fly Free is like a match made in heaven. I applaud them for it. And I have to thank Rayvon for being generous, allowing extra time to do this right.”
Bartczak said he has been painting murals for about 40 years. Two of his murals, depicting early-day apple box labels, are on the exterior walls of the Fox Theater in downtown Watsonville.
“I am really proud of the way it came out,” Williams said. “It’s a testament to the partnership between the Municipal Airport and EAA Chapter 119’s Young Eagles Aviation Program. Over the past five years we’ve implemented a monthly second weekend historical aircraft display and converted the terminal lobby to a one-day mini-museum on second Saturdays, sponsored the Wheels@Watsonville car shows and hosted the Wings Over Watsonville Fly-in.”
Bartczak said he is arranging a time to make a presentation in the near future about the mural to the Watsonville City Council.
