Public invited to tour Palo Alto’s colorful new murals

Palo Alto’s California Avenue has been getting a colorful makeover this week thanks to a mural festival sponsored by the city’s public art program. Three artists — Paz de la Calzada, Nicole Ponsler and Olivia Losee-Unger — were invited to create the large-scale paintings and have been working on them all week.

Ponsler and Losee-Unger brought a little “flower power” to their work. Losse-Unger painted “Moonflowers for Georgia” on the wall at Izzy’s Brooklyn Bagels, with the white blooms bursting out of a green and lavender background. (They were a favorite flower of Georgia O’Keeffe — Losse-Unger’s personal artistic hero. Meanwhile, Ponsler’s “Bloom” has come to life of Palo Alto Central, a few blocks away adding the sunset colors of marigolds to a blank wall.

The third mural is a ground mural by Paz de la Calzada, who is working with groups of volunteers at the intersection of California Avenue and Ash Street. The three murals are temporary, but they’ll be on display through the rest of the summer.

A free public tour of the murals, and the opportunity to meet the three artists, is happening June 9 at 5 p.m. It starts by fountain at 2351 Park Blvd., just steps away from the Caltrain station.

GOING FOR GOLD IN LITERACY: Olympic gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi’s Always Dream has partnered with the Children’s Discovery Museum and the San Jose Public Library Foundation on a first-time event this Saturday aimed at making reading fun for kids. The Family Literacy Festival will feature children’s book readings by Yamaguchi, fellow Olympians Polina Edmunds and Maia and Alex Shibutani, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and children’s book authors Jennifer Fosberry, Tim McCanna, John and Madeline Casselberry, and Maggie Tokuda Hall.

The event at the Children’s Discovery Museum, which has a morning and an afternoon session, also will include performances by Alphabet Rockers and AndyZ. Tickets, which include museum admission, are available in advance at the library foundation’s website, www.sjplf.org.

ZINE AND BE ZINE: Empire 7 Studios in Japantown is hosting its second Art, Zine and Book Fair this weekend, with artists and book publishers showcasing their work — along with panel discussions, poetry, performances, DJs and lowriders at the outdoor event.

The big highlight Saturday will be the book release of “Indecent Exposure,” a 300-page collection of the analog-era zine that showcased illegal graffiti, along with a panel discussion and book-signing with artist Sean Barton. Sunday’s events, led by poet and San Jose State Assistant Professor Jonathan Gomez, will include discussions with author Donelle McGee, poet and multidisciplinary artist Asha and Santa Clara County Poet Laureate Tshaka Campbell.

The fair runs 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. June 10 and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 11 at 525 N. Seventh St. Get more information at www.empiresevenstudios.com.

MAKING CONNECTIONS: Spirit Airlines touched down at San Jose Mineta Airport on Wednesday, and the bright-yellow jetliner didn’t just bring a first group of passengers from Dallas. The Spirit Charitable Foundation marked the new connection with Silicon Valley by making a $10,000 student scholarship donation to Trade Winds Aviation. The flight school’s professional flight program is one of the options for students aiming for an aviation degree at San Jose State.