Mural aims to help revitalize major East Bay thoroughfare
ASHLAND — The outside of a restaurant on East 14th Street has gotten spiffed up with a mural, the latest the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office has helped create to revitalize a neighborhood more known for its passing traffic than dining spots.
Young people from REACH Ashland Youth Center, which serves youth ages 11 to 24, painted the mural on what was once a blank outdoor wall at nearby Angry Fish Sushi, which serves up such rolls as the “49ers,” with crab, avocado and salmon, and the “Cherry Bomb,” with tuna, prawns and green onion.
The mural features a Godzilla-like monster standing before pounding waves getting buzzed by angry-looking sushi determined to defend their town.
“Just working with a great bunch of people. That was the best part,” said Timothy Curran, 24, who helped paint the mural.
A blue stripe anchors the work. It includes koi painted near the entrance of the restaurant, which opened about six years ago at 16250 E. 14th St. in unincorporated Alameda County between San Leandro and Hayward.
“Public safety means more than the absence of crime,” Sheriff Greg Ahern told a gathering outside the business Wednesday, when the mural was unveiled. “In places like Ashland, decades of disinvestment have left the community without many of the vital institutions that support economic vitality. When people lack the basic building blocks of a community — parks, playgrounds, businesses, jobs, and arts and culture — they no longer feel safe and secure.”
The sheriff’s office supported creating the mural, Ahern said, because it’s part of a broader law enforcement effort to reduce crime through making more vibrant communities.
Gregory Duggan, a graphic designer at the REACH center, calls the monster depicted in the mural “Ash-zilla,” a play on the neighborhood’s name.
“It was very important that the owners and the staff of the restaurant liked it,” said Duggan, who designed the mural. “After that, it was full steam ahead.”
REACH opened in May 2013 and mostly focuses on Ashland and other unincorporated areas in western Alameda County, which can be known for poverty and crime, as well as chronic health problems among its residents.
About 12 people connected with REACH worked on the Angry Fish Sushi mural, starting in January when they hashed out ideas on what it should look like, including talking with Tommy Kwok, an owner of the business.
When the design was completed, a projector flashed the image onto the restaurant wall. Then people traced and fleshed it out with paint.
A $100,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts helped pay for the work, one of six that have been created in the area under the Alameda County Deputy Sheriffs’ Activities League, a nonprofit founded in 2004 that works to connect the public and law enforcement to fight crime and improve communities.
Among the league’s programs are boxing classes and “Dig Deep Farms,” which has turned unused parcels into urban farms where produce is grown and sold back to the community. The Deputy Sheriffs’ Activities League also runs a free soccer program.
Two more murals are currently in the works, at a taqueria and a barbershop, also on East 14th Street, according to Hilary Bass of the sheriffs’ activities league.
There’s also a $130,000 grant from the California Arts Council to pay for additional projects.
“That’s the synergy,” Bass said. “We want to keep it going.”