It always bothered Caryl Simpson that Gilroy, the Garlic Capital of the world, had no garlicky presence downtown for the tourists and journalists that trickled through town outside the city’s seasonal Garlic Festival in July.
“I thought, ‘I am going to do a giant postcard to the world on my building,’” said Simpson, who wanted to give visitors something they could photograph and film when they stopped in the area.
Simpson, who at the time owned a retail gift store off Fifth Street and Monterey streets, took action into her own hands and imagined an 18-by-63 mural that would celebrate the city’s treasured crop.
Two decades years later, Simpson no longer lives in Gilroy or owns the building the mural is painted on (now the Gardner South County Health Center), but she has been instrumental in arranging for Gianni Martino – the Italian muralist who first painted the work – to return to Gilroy for three weeks to restore it.
“It’s a nice mural,” said local Eddie Aguirre as he walked by with his girlfriend on a recent Tuesday. “I like it. I think they should have more stuff like it.”
The sprawling creation was designed by Caryl Simpson and sketched by Martin Roberson, who was Simpson’s employee at the time.
The restoration is expected to come in just shy of its $16,000 budget, according to Joan Buchanan, who co-chaired project with former Gilroy Mayor Al Pinheiro. The Downtown Business Association sponsored the restoration project with the help of contributions from the community including the Gilroy Garlic Festival, Christopher Ranch owner Don Christopher, El Camino Packing Inc., the Gilroy Arts Alliance, Cal-Coast Custom Drywall Construction, Inc., Carolyn Tognetti, Lynda Trelut and Carly Simpson.
The mural shows South County in the summer when a lack of rain causes the hills to turn a golden hue and the only green comes from a few oak trees.
“The thing I like the most is it seems like you are in a movie,” said Mauro Pellegrino, who is Martino’s assistant. “You have to focus on a spot to see the details – the trucks, people working.”
Two big globes of garlic are accompanied by the words “Garlic Capital of the World” and in the bottom left, a vampire is pulling up the edge of the mural and waving at mural admirers.
“We decided that we would incorporate the historical names and a little bit of the fun,” Simpson smiled.
The center of the mural features workers picking garlic, carrying it in baskets and pouring it into bins that honor the famous garlic producers of the region: Y. Nagareda, Joseph Gubser Company, Jimmy Hirasaki, the Frassetti Bros, B+T Farms and Garlic World. A silver barn to the left is labeled A+D Christopher Ranch in honor of the city’s current garlic production king, Don Christopher.
“We are very glad to be here. For Gianni, it’s the second time he’s working on this painting. For me, it’s the first time in the States,” said Mauro Pellegrino, who is Martino’s assistant.
Using eight paint colors – white, black, yellow, light blue, green, brown and two shades of red – the artists mix additional shades of color directly on the wall, a common mural painting technique, but one that requires quick painting. The restoration of the mural is expected to take 150 hours of painting, Pellegrino said.
A celebration of the restored mural will take place at 6 p.m. Friday, and Mayor Don Gage will be speaking. It’s a fitting close to the restoration project, as Gage was also mayor at the time the mural was first created.
As far as prime mural viewing time, Pellegrino says it’s 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., when the California sun rises high over the parking lot in front of the mural and shines directly on to the painting.
