Work is underway to complete the 10th and final phase of the five-year Watsonville Brillante mosaic downtown art project that is splashed across the otherwise dull concrete walls of the six-floor parking garage on Rodriguez Street.
A ribbon-cutting street party is now set for Oct. 26 to celebrate the competition of the job, said lead artist Kathleen Crocetti.
“We’re planning on closing down Rodriguez Street to make way for the celebration,” Crocetti said.” The community is invited to come meet all the amazing volunteers and artists that helped make this project happen.”
Each phase of the project took six months and featured hundreds of mosaic panels that showcase cultural designs from countries around the globe.
The event will feature the Watsonville Community Band, Taiko drummers, White Hawk dancers, Esperanze del Valle folkorico dancers, food trucks, nonprofits, and local artist vendors.
Tours of the project will run on the hour in English and each half hour in Spanish.
Crocetti said she won the Rydell Fellowship of $20,000 through the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County.
“I used the money to travel to Europe where I got to see the architectural work of Antoni Gaudí,” she said. “When I came back I decided I wanted to create some kind of monumental artwork in Watsonville. I drew up a plan over the next year and half and presented it to the city. Then I created a non-profit and secured donations to develop Watsonville Brillante.”
About 80% of the overall project includes ceramic tiles donated by the Aromas-based company Fireclay.
The free event runs Oct. 26 from 11-5pm at the corner of Rodriguez Street at Second Street.
