The Story
The mural, “Heritage” painted by artist Bryan Valenzuela on the Wydown Hotel features a majestic Oak Tree as a central icon, symbolizing the stability, strength, and endurance of St. Helena. The tree, a native and long-standing inhabitant of the area, is depicted with Valenzuela’s signature text drawing technique to highlight light, shadow, and shape.
The tree is surrounded by tree rings of time that tell a story of St. Helena’s deep-rooted history. Tree Rings are markers of time, visually imprinting a history of the land on the land itself where the stories of the past echo and reverberate, and are carried in the air.
The surrounding landscape features a showcase of a timeless Napa Valley scene. Inspired by a quote from Kahlil Gibran, “Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky,” the design features Oak Tree rings subtly superimposed upon the landscape, symbolizing the passage of time and the deep roots of the region’s history.
Valenzuela’s vision for this mural was to use the tree as a symbol and centerpiece and organize a visual narrative that captures the spirit of the Valley. The thick trunk of an Oak Tree rises from the bottom of the frame as the sun rises, arrayed in light across the sky behind branches sprawling upward and outward, showcases the true spirit of St. Helena. The mural took Valenzuela over 4 weeks to paint.
Heritage
We need to broaden our sympathies both in space and time – and perceive ourselves as part of a long heritage, and stewards for an immense future.
– MARTIN REES (British Astrophysicist)
Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky.”
– Kahlil Gibran (Lebanese-American Writer/Poet)
I believe in the power of murals to create special moments inside our everyday environments, to spark moments of awe that capture something outside the commonplace routines we all inhabit, and tap into an inner wellspring of inspiration to carry throughout the day. It is an opportunity to visually capture complex stories and distill them down into the simple essence of a place, of a people and its culture.
In gathering the essence of St. Helena I think it important to look to its heritage and its history, its relationship with the land and those who have inhabited that land throughout its many eras and evolutions.
While vines may seem an apt symbol for that relationship, I think it is the Oak Tree that comes most readily to my mind when thinking of the true heritage of the Valley. As a majestic icon of stability, of strength and endurance, the Oak Tree is both native to the area and its longest living inhabitant. It is a steadfast sentinel, witness to every changing season through every changing decade and century.
My vision for this mural was to use the Tree symbol as a centerpiece to organize a visual narrative that captures the spirit of the Valley. The thick trunk of an Oak Tree rises from the bottom of the frame as the sun rises, arrayed in light across the sky behind branches sprawling upward and outward.
A country road lined in vines vanishes into the distant mountains of a timeless Napa Valley landscape brought to life through over 60 hand mixed, custom colors. Visually mirroring the above quote by Kahlil Gibran, translucent Oak Tree rings reverberate across the horizon, rippling to edge of the wall.
The Tree itself is composed entirely of handwritten words in different densities to create light, shape, and shadow. Within the complex matrix of branches are inscribed memories, histories of the land, of its people, and excerpts from the great philosophies and poems of the past echoing through the centuries. Transforming thought to image through the word, encapsulates my vision for what it means to be in this part of the world, in this time in its history.
The Artist
Northern California artist Bryan Valenzuela has spent the last couple decades aiming to perfect a unique drawing technique involving the atomization of the figure by carving out shape, shadow and light with handwritten text. Paragraphs, sentences, phrases, and fragments are used simultaneously as both the form and content of each piece. As form, the text delineates figures and subjects layer upon layer as shading.
Words varying in size from the minuscule and unreadable, to large and bold are used in a manner similar to crosshatching and stippling. Though virtually unnoticeable from afar, once the viewer steps closer to each work they are engulfed in a barrage of words intermingled with other mixed media elements such as acrylic paint, gel transfer, gold leaf, and collage.
Valenzuela has murals all over the unites states, including San Francisco, Chicago, Napa, and Sacramento, as well as temporary works in New Orleans and New York. He has won First Place at the Crocker Kingsley Biennial, Best in Show at the California State Fair Fine Art Exhibition, received the Leff Davis Grant for Emerging Artists, and exhibited nationally in many group shows, most notably for Scope at Miami Art Basel and Moniker in London.
Chamber Creates, Community Champions One Project at a time
Chamber Creates is an initiative showcasing the Chamber’s creativity, passion, and industriousness for St. Helena by spearheading a variety of projects that celebrate our community. These projects create ways to support and drive more business to our businesses. This initiative aims to breathe new life into our beloved downtown by incorporating vibrant public art installations.
This project is spearheaded by the St. Helena Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the St. Helena Beautification Foundation. Working alongside a group of stakeholders, the Chamber will execute three projects in five years that inject energy into it’s downtown, inspire creativity, and celebrate St. Helena.
Community Support
The St. Helena Chamber of Commerce, Beautification Foundation, sponsor Blue Zones Project Upper Napa Valley, Gott’s Roadside, and a formed Art Committee express their gratitude to all who have supported this project, including Nimbus Arts, RAD Napa, the City of St. Helena, and the dedicated members of the volunteer Art Committee comprised of: Amy Carabba-Salazar, Stephanie Smithers, and Liliana Ramos – St. Helena Chamber of Commerce, Kathleen Whitehurst and Nancy Morrel – St. Helena Beautification Foundation committee, Mark Hoffmeister – Owner of Wydown Hotel, Paul Dohring – Mayor of St. Helena, Katherine Bull – MEUSE Gallery, Lisa Covey and Emily Harrison – Hall Napa Valley, Mary Stephenson and Claire Barr – local resident/artist, Kelly Bond and Robert Chesnut -Blue Zones Project Upper Napa Valley, and Jamie Graff – Nimbus Arts. A huge thank you to the City of St. Helena for approving the first mural.
