Stroll or ride a bike down a tucked-away San Clemente alleyway and you’ll be greeted by splashes of surf scenes – massive murals paying homage to the sport, it’s upcoming Olympic debut and two local surfers hoping to bring home gold for their country.
The Olympics are approaching and this seaside town wants the world to get stoked on surfing as it is showcased in front of billions who will tune in and learn about the sport.
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USA Surfing, headquartered in San Clemente, teamed up with three surf artists and building owners for the larger-than-life artistic undertaking to highlight surfing in the Tokyo Olympics, as well as two of the athletes – Kolohe Andino and Caroline Marks – who call San Clemente home.
Artists Melissa Murphy, Dana Martino and Jeff Lukasik were selected for the project, which hopefully will get people pumped up for the Olympics and draw them to San Clemente.
Kim Tilly, administrative coordinator for USA Surfing, said the No. 1 question they get from people as the summer games near: Surfing is in the Olympics?
“The city came up with the mural idea and then we just kind of ran with it after that,” she said.
The city funded two of the murals at the cost of $2,500 each through the San Clemente Downtown Business fund aimed at sprucing up the alleyway known as the Downtown Paseos near Del Mar Avenue.
The big blank wall canvases outside of Catalina Liquor and Rocket Fizz were selected as the initial two locations. Sean Rowland, owner of Nomads Hotel, heard about the mural project and jumped aboard for a third, self-funding the venture and selecting Lukasik as the artist.
“It just kind of all organically came together,” Tilly said. “People have been super stoked.”
Especially excited are the artists picked to do the murals, including Lukasik, who grew up in San Clemente surfing the area’s well-known breaks and competing on the amateur circuit in his younger years.
His massive mural on the Nomad’s wall, at 102 Ave. Serra, features vibrant oranges and reds in a sunset with the San Clemente Pier in the background, and a depiction of Marks hitting the lip of a wave and Andino punting to the air, one of his signature moves, on the south-side beach break.
“I just want it to be a very immersive thing. It’s such a big wall, I want people to be able to stand in front of it and feel like you’re in the ocean with these two surfers,” he said. “It just represents San Clemente in a cool way.”
Lukasik has had plenty of time to study his subjects, spending countless hours watching the athletes out at his favorite surf spot, Lower Trestles.
While Marks is originally from Florida, she’s lived locally for about eight years, her family uprooting to San Clemente so she could pursue her pro-surfing aspirations.
Andino was born and raised in San Clemente, surfing popular spots such as T-Street since he was a young kid.
“I’ve watched (Andino) since he was a little kid into this prodigy child and just grow into a powerhouse surfer,” Lukasik said. “I want to represent it very accurately, how he looks in the water.”
Growing up in San Clemente, surfing is everything, but Lukasik said he’s found through his own travels many landlocked people know nothing of the sport.
“With the Olympics, it’s just going to bring it to a wider audience,” he said. “(Surfing) should be represented in the Olympics, it should be cherished, it should be seen. It’s been a long time coming.”
Martino is originally from New Jersey, with years spent in Florida – a nomadic surf traveler who landed in San Clemente two years ago.
The wall she has transformed is at 103 Ave. Del Mar, where she’s incorporated the two surfers split with an American flag in the middle, Andino in a larger barrel and Marks tucked into her wave.
“To be a part of the project is pretty awesome,” she said. “I surf and I paint and it brings it together.”
Her painting is topped with purples, blues and pinks for a colorful sunset, visible to people strolling down Del Mar Avenue, the town’s main drag.
“I wanted it to scream ‘Go USA!’ but I wanted it to be magical too, so it will be inspiring for the youth and all the other groms,” she said. “That’s why I did the sky like that. I’m a colorful artist.”
She’s been able to connect with the community while working on the project the past two weeks.
“During COVID, I didn’t really get to meet and be out with people, this was a great way to be out and in public,” Martino said. “I’ve met a million people since I’ve been working on it.”
One favorite moment: A guy strolling by dropped a $5 and yelled out, “You’re inspiring!”
Martino talked about meeting Marks during her younger years when they both lived in Florida, and how she wanted to add warmer tones to the athlete’s face, but not too much because she’s shaded in the barrel.
She talked about how she hoped people would take selfies in front of the surfers, as if riding the wave with them.
“l like to make it interactive when it’s a large scale like that,” she said. “I just hope it gives people excitement and positive vibes.”
She hopes to be finished by June 14, Flag Day, a fitting holiday to unveil the finished project.
The third artist, Murphy, is a former competitive surfer from Huntington Beach who just finished a massive mural on the side of Surf City Liquor. Her latest project in San Clemente is at Catalina Liquor on a 45-foot-long wall.
Murphy is also known for her collaboration with the county’s Positive Vibes campaign, with 85,000 masks made last year and large bus advertisements showcasing ocean wildlife.
Her latest mural not only depicts the two local athletes sharing a peak near the USA Surfing logo and Olympic rings, but also has ocean wildlife below, making the connection between the sport and the sea.
“I’m going to have surfers popping out of the frame, so it looks dynamic,” she said. “The bottom part (with marine creatures), I just added because I was having fun.”
She marveled at the history of the sport, how far it has come since wave riders would surf on big Balsa boards 100 years ago to being in the Olympics in just a few weeks.
“I’m just excited they can show the world how cool surfing is,” she said. “Now, it’s a serious sport. So it’s cool that it is in the Olympics.”
(@James_Escarcega) 
