42 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM {due west} You’re walking along a Santa Cruz street, minding your own business, when you turn—and find yourself faceto-face with a kraken-sized octopus. No need to panic. This is not some escapee from a low-budget horror film. You’ve only stumbled upon a mural. The whole city seems awash in seascapes. You’ll find seals and eels skimming along the exteriors of local shops. Kelp forests swaying beside parking lots. Mermaids congregating outside Domino’s Pizza. And a colossal squid jetting along the sound wall by Highway 1. In 2021, Santa Cruz’s mural tally soared in the wake of Sea Walls: Artists for Oceans. Over the course of a single, landscapechanging week, artists rallied to produce 20 splashy new murals. The project paired Made Fresh Crew, a local collective of artists, with PangeaSeed Foundation, an internationally-acclaimed nonprofit. Not just a beautification project, each new mural dives into the topic of ocean conservation, calling out everything from plastic pollution to ocean warming. To tour a few of the region’s large-scale artworks—aquatic and otherwise—head out on this twomile urban hike. THE DOWNTOWN ROUTE If you chose the wrong kind of footwear for today’s adventure, this first stop should help you out. Start this urban hike on the right foot outside Old School Shoes (1017 Pacific Avenue), where you’ll be greeted by a playful, pop-art mural titled Surfin’ Bird. Using cheery oranges and blues, Brian Barneclo weaves in references to the area’s iconic landmarks, including the Boardwalk’s SkyGlider, the Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse and the area’s regal redwood trees. Cross Pacific Avenue to circle the cluster of buildings on the other side of the street for three murals from the Sea Walls project. The first, on the side of
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