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Two years ago, CCA alumni Joey Rose and Alexandra (Alex) Underwood (both BFA Illustration 2017) began their journey to splash public art across Emeryville, California. Their project is the local iteration of the international Sea Walls: Artists for Oceans mural festival, which boasts over 400 murals across 18 countries to date. In September, Rose and Underwood debuted Sea Walls Emeryville with 15 murals painted by local and international artists, each focusing on a theme connected to the oceans and the environment.

When people think of Emeryville they often picture Pixar Studios, or the blue and yellow IKEA rising behind a freeway interchange. But those images both conceal and highlight for Rose and Underwood why Emeryville is emblematic of some of the issues that concern the environment in the Bay Area and California today.

“We moved to Emeryville because I did a public art piece with the city about five or so years ago, and I was so struck with how much the city and community supports public art,” says Rose. “And then once we moved here we realized there was a marina right across the freeway. We’d walk our dog during the pandemic and notice this disconnect: the freeway cuts people off from the water.”

Rose and Underwood sought to change that narrative and focus on what connects people. “Art is a tool to spark change,” says Rose. “I’m not a scientist, but the tool I have is art. Using art to get people involved, that’s what this is all about.”

Each Sea Walls festival takes a local form, with murals commissioned under a set of regional themes and topics. Rose and Underwood curated a thematic palette for the 17 Sea Walls artists to draw from as they conceived their murals. These themes included local endangered species, sea level rise, pollution and landfill, environmental justice, and Indigenous land stewardship.

“The Bay Area is the second largest estuary on this side of the continent. It’s really an important thruway for different species of birds, different migratory fish,” says Rose. “These intersections of different habitats are some of the most biodiverse ecosystems we have. And it’s where we are, here in the Bay. We need to really make sure we protect it.”

The artists who brought Emeryville’s streets and walls to life with art include local and international creatives who came to the city to put their original take on the various themes connected to the San Francisco Bay ecosystem. “A lot of these artists were our icons while we were going to CCA and starting our mural careers. We really look up to these people and were so excited to meet them in person,” says Underwood.

Steffi Lynn, an artist based in Austin and New York City, for instance, installed a mural at Powell Plaza (5707 Christie Avenue) to highlight Bay Area species at risk of extinction.