It’s month two and mural two is already completed in a series of seven commissioned to decorate the community under the auspices of the Crestline-Lake Gregory Chamber of Commerce.

This month, a new mural was painted on the wall below the Lake Mud Pottery Company and Valley of the Moon Antiques, across Lake Drive from Mountain Pawn and the Rim Bowling and Recreation Center.

The mural celebrates the fun of mountain biking and the vistas available cyclists experience when out of town and out on the trails in the forest or off-road. The motion of the mural captures the excitement of seeing a new section of forest not previously seen and the euphoria of feeling that you may be the first person who has ever been there. Those who do off-road cycling will re-experience that feeling seeing the new mural when driving by it. The multi-level surface and texture of the wall add to the movement of the mural.

Painted by Genesis Mural Company, the murals are in the classic National Park poster styling. All the murals will be original designs, designed for the community of Crestline, celebrating many activities the community offers. Genesis recently painted the three new murals at Rim High School and the handball walls at the Lake Gregory Education and Community Center. That mural currently features a “Nightmare Before Christmas” design.

Topics being considered for the future Crestline murals will include fishing and water activities, hang-gliding and parasailing, kayaking and canoeing. All murals will celebrate the vistas and joy of being in the mountains.

The murals are a gift to the community by the Crestline-Lake Gregory Chamber of Commerce, using the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) paid by hotel visitors. Those funds are designated to promote tourism in the community. Usually, they are used to fund the yearly Easter egg hunts, Fall Festival, Christmas bonfire, Corks & Hops, Jamboree Days and other festivals and events in the community. Most of those events didn’t occur this year due to COVID-19, so instead the chamber decided to use the funds to spruce up the community with murals to give residents and visitors another amenity to enjoy while in town.

The chamber also hopes the murals themselves may attract some additional tourists to Crestline as some tourists just go from town to town to see the variety of murals that communities offer. The chamber intends to create a pamphlet when all the murals are completed, putting their locations with QR codes on a map so folks may drive to each location and get a background story on each mural.

The location of the first two murals in town are coincidentally on walls where previous murals had been painted. The first mural is on the west wall of the Liberation Therapies building at 23794 Lake Drive. It’s best viewed from the patio of the Higher Grounds Coffee House. That mural of a lone hiker on the trail between Heart Rock and Lake Gregory is located on the same wall where previously The Mulberry Tree restaurant had a mural of Victorian ladies enjoying a tea party. That mural was unfortunately painted over several decades ago.

The street level cement wall where the new mountain biking-themed mural is located is at 23988 Lake Drive. That wall previously had a painting of a peaceful forest and lake scene and was painted over about a decade ago.

Both murals have an anti-graffiti coating to preserve them for decades.

The next mural may be painted in the Top Town section of Crestline, although it is not yet designed. It is planned to celebrate Teddy Bear launch point of the USFS, which is a destination of hang-gliders and paragliders from around the world. The views are spectacular from there due to the elevation, inspiring photographers to choose that location to photograph sunrises and sunsets, year-round. The views from Teddy Bear extend out to Catalina Island, which is 90 miles away.

The Crestline-Lake Gregory Chamber of Commerce is accepting donations and suggestions on topics and locations to help continue this project at their office – 24385 Lake Drive on the north shore of Lake Gregory – during its office hours of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

If your business has a wall appropriate for a mural, let the chamber know of your interest at (909) 338-2706. If you have any questions on this project or other activities of the chamber or want to donate time or energy, stop by the office and introduce yourself.