New 210-Foot Mural Weaves Together the Story of San Rafael

"San Rafael Tapestry" is now on view along Second Street in Downtown San Rafael

The City of San Rafael and San Rafael Arts invite the community to experience "San Rafael Tapestry," a new mural now on view on the Second Street retaining wall at G Street in Downtown San Rafael.

Created by Santa Cruz-based artist Wyatt Hersey, the approximately 210-foot mural brings together San Rafael's natural environment, community life, history, and cultural identity through a series of colorful symbolic panels.

Community members and visitors are encouraged to visit the mural and enjoy the role public art plays in bringing creativity, connection, and vitality to Downtown San Rafael.

Part of San Rafael's Public Art Program

The San Rafael Arts Program is supported by a generous $250,000 grant from the California Arts Council and implemented by Local Edition Creative, an award winning Bay Area arts consulting agency The program is bringing murals, mosaics, and sculptures to prominent locations throughout downtown while celebrating San Rafael's cultural identity, supporting downtown vitality, and strengthening the city's role as an arts destination in Marin County.

"San Rafael Tapestry" is the third of five new public artworks coming to Downtown San Rafael this summer. The first installation, "Touch the Sky," a metal sculpture by artist Martin Taylor, was unveiled at the San Rafael Community Center on May 6. Also in May, artist Paz de la Calzada's "Where the Fountain Dreams," a mural and ceramic tile installation, brought new vibrance to the City Plaza Fountain.

Four of the artworks will become part of the City's permanent civic art collection. The fifth will arrive outside City Hall in August for a temporary, one-year exhibition.

About the Artist

Wyatt Hersey is a Santa Cruz-based artist with personal ties to Marin County. Having grown up in San Anselmo, Hersey approached "San Rafael Tapestry" with an understanding of the region's landscapes, wildlife, history, and community character. Creating a large-scale art piece along one of San Rafael's busiest streets offered Hersey an opportunity to contribute something meaningful and highly visible to a community he knows well.

His mural uses recognizable local imagery and symbolic forms to tell a layered story of San Rafael and the relationship between its natural and human environments. From coyotes and wildflowers, to bicycles and Mount Tamalpais, each image contributes a piece of San Rafael's story.

A Community-Centered Artwork Selection Process

The public art installations were selected through a community-centered public process. The City's call for artist proposals closed at the end of July 2025. The following month, the Public Art Program Jury reviewed the submissions and selected semifinalists.

Community members were invited to provide feedback on the semifinalist proposals during a public comment period in October 2025. After considering that feedback, the Public Art Program Jury and Public Art Review Board presented their recommendations to the San Rafael City Council, which approved the selected artworks in February 2026.

Public Art Program Locations

Five City-owned locations are receiving artwork through San Rafael's Public Art Program:

• Court Plaza and the City Plaza Fountain (location of "Where the Fountain Dreams")
• The Second and Fourth Street project lane divider (soon to be permanent location of "Touch the Sky")
• The Second Street retaining wall at G Street (location of "San Rafael Tapestry")
• C Street at the Third Street Garage (location of "Handle With Care")
• Outside San Rafael City Hall (location of temporary sculpture for 1-year exhibition)