Gaucho Think Tank, along with other community organizations, will create four new street murals at the Pardall Road and Camino Pescadero intersection in Isla Vista. The artworks celebrate the marine environment of the Channel Islands and local walking and biking culture, as well as draw awareness toward issues of domestic violence and poverty.
Gaucho Think Tank, along with other community organizations, will create four new street murals at the Pardall Road and Camino Pescadero intersection in I.V. Courtesy of Sanjit Masanam
The new street murals were pitched to stakeholders by Gaucho Think Tank (GTT), a student-run interdisciplinary think tank that researches local issues and works with the community to implement innovative solutions. The installation is a collaborative project between GTT, Isla Vista Community Services District (IVCSD) and Santa Barbara County (SBC). The murals are projected to be finished by mid-May.
Founder and President of GTT and third-year physics major Sanjit Masanam said the project aims to beautify I.V. and promote safety on the streets.
According to Masanam, funding is coming from both the Valuing Open and Inclusive Conversation and Engagement (V.O.I.C.E.) initiative and the Isla Vista Community Relations Committee (IVCRC). About $5,000 was granted to GTT from V.O.I.C.E. and about $7,000 from IVCRC.
“There’s been research on how street art installations can reduce collisions between pedestrians and bikers with vehicle traffic,” Masanam said. “It’s a low-cost way of hopefully improving the safety of pedestrians and bikers in I.V.”
GTT selected local Chumash artist John Khus to design the murals and create a chalk outline of his paintings on the intersection. The four themes for the murals each address personal connections to Khus’ life as well as the surrounding I.V. community. While volunteers will complete the bulk of the painting, Khus will complete the finishing touches.
Courtesy of John Khus
One mural will commemorate the nature of the nearby Channel Islands. Khus emphasized the importance of protecting the aquatic environment and spoke of his connection to the ocean due to his Chumash heritage.
“There’s different aspects in the [ocean] design in particular. [I] wanted to make sure I highlighted the kelp forests, which are being damaged a lot and are in danger. And those [kelp forests] are really important for all the aquatic life,” Khus said.
Courtesy of John Khus
Another mural will draw awareness to the issue of domestic violence, which Khus said is an important theme for his art and the first he chose. This section of the mural will depict a mother and a child.
“I have had a connection in one way or another my whole entire life with domestic violence. It’s impacted how I’ve grown up. It’s impacted people that I care about and love in different ways. That’s a theme and a subject that I feel is extremely important, and making sure that we don’t silence — that we don’t just sweep it under the rug,” Khus said.
Courtesy of John Khus
The third mural’s theme centers on the walking and biking culture of I.V. Khus drew inspiration from memories of growing up in I.V. with his mother while she attended UC Santa Barbara.
“We spent a lot of time in the area, and my connection with that is from early childhood. And so that formed a lot of my affinity and affection for Isla Vista in particular. And I think the walking and biking part of it,” Khus said.
Courtesy of John Khus
The focus of the final mural is poverty, which will depict a hand “dropping individual coins down” to another hand.
“There’s definitely a nod to something that I grew up with being told, which is the trickle-down theory,” Khus said. “None of the money is going to the child below. I highlighted that there’s ribs [in the mural design] too, kind of [to] emphasize that this child is in need of food but even being denied.”
SBC is providing supplemental funding for protective delineator poles that will surround the mural, and IVCSD is responsible for informing neighboring properties about street closures and other forms of community outreach about the project.
According to IVCSD Public Works & Sustainability Director Jenna Norton, the project is a precursor to a larger initiative to create better biking and mobility infrastructure in I.V. The future project, which is set to be completed in 2028, is a $9 million state-funded grant project that will build sidewalks, curb extensions, high-visibility crosswalks and concrete bulb-outs in various intersections. Bulb-outs prevent cars from parking too close to the intersection, allowing for more visibility to see who is crossing the street.
“We hope that it’ll have a traffic calming effect. Hopefully people will slow down and be more aware of their surroundings. It’ll help with sight lines and visibility and it’ll add some beauty to the neighborhood,” Norton said.
According to Norton, the street mural project is a temporary installation intended to eventually be removed when the construction in 2028 begins. The protective delineator poles that will surround the street murals will aim to create an effect similar to what the future project aims to achieve. Norton explained that at the time of the future project’s completion, the murals will likely be paved over or covered up. However, they do plan to preserve the murals for as long as possible.
SBC Public Works Mobility Manager Mark Friedlander focuses on bike, pedestrian and transit projects for “non-motorized modes of travel.” According to Friedlander, the Pardall and Camino Pescadero intersection was a focus that GTT presented to SBC and IVCSD.
“[GTT] looked at some previous planning documents that have been done, including the IVCSD mobility plan, and it had a heat map that showed different collisions involving pedestrians and bicyclists. And this intersection had sort of one of our highest incident traffic collision intersections in Isla Vista,” Friedlander said.
According to Friedlander, infrastructure like curbs and sidewalks is extremely expensive, and the murals are a temporary solution for safety in the meantime.
“With something like this, you can achieve similar safety benefits for a fraction of the cost and a lot less time. And if it does that while also making Isla Vista look more beautiful and create a sense of place. That’s a double win for us,” Friedlander said.
Norton emphasized that she hopes the street murals can leave an impact on the larger I.V. community.
“Public art is something a lot of people want to see more of, and [it] encourages respect and a sense of responsibility for one’s community,” Norton said. “Because we know that when we take care of our community and when we implement meaningful, thoughtful projects, especially coming from someone who has such deep ties to the community, it helps to gain other residents’ respect and causes them to care more for their community.”
A version of this article appeared on p. 7 of the May 7. print edition of the Daily Nexus.
