Graffiti News

The Sausalito stair mural has council approval, with fundraising still shaping when the work can be painted. According to The Press Democrat’s October 12, 2026 report, the City Council voted October 5 to accept a donated mural for the Excelsior Stairs on Bridgeway, across from Viña del Mar Park. The nonprofit Sausalito Sister Cities sponsors the project, and Sausalito artist Raylene Gorum will paint it.

The distinction between accepting a work and completing it matters here. The newspaper describes a project seeking further donations, with organizers hoping to paint the steps by next spring. That is a fundraising-dependent ambition, rather than an announced completion date.

The Sausalito stair mural uses the vertical faces of 52 steps

The design belongs on the stairway’s risers, the vertical surfaces between its 52 steps. The Press Democrat describes the existing stairway as gray cement. For someone following public art, the useful detail is the placement: the proposed image is distributed across successive upright surfaces.

According to the newspaper, two women embrace a globe showing the western hemisphere, with imagery drawn from wine-growing regions. At the bottom is Gabriela Mistral, the Nobel Prize-winning Chilean writer. Rows of grapevines form the pleats of her dress. At the top, a Sausalito woman embraces the globe beneath an arbor filled with flowers.

Those are concrete features to look for when examining the proposal: the lower figure’s dress, the globe and the upper floral setting. The report does not name the Sausalito woman. Gorum also designed the “All Our Children United” mural in the Highway 101 underpass between Sausalito and Marin City, the newspaper notes.

Sister-city ties provide the subject

Viña del Mar became Sausalito’s first sister city in 1960, according to The Press Democrat. Sakaide, Japan, followed in 1988, and Cascais, Portugal, in 2013. The proposed stair mural specifically addresses the relationship with Viña del Mar; the account does not describe a design representing all three partnerships.

The newspaper places the project alongside recent exchanges involving women-led businesses and fire departments sharing practices. It also reports that the Southern Marin Fire Protection District donated an engine no longer in use. These details give the mural a civic context beyond its color scheme: an existing relationship between communities supplies its subject.

Parks commission chair Stacy Kray welcomed the design’s connection to Viña del Mar and its recognition of Mistral as the first Latin American writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, the newspaper reports.

Approval follows a new public-art process

This was the first public-art approval under the city’s new policy, according to The Press Democrat. Earlier this year, the council adopted a five-step review process in which the commission examines public-art applications and recommends proposals for council acceptance. The report does not set out every stage’s requirements.

Vice Mayor Melissa Blaustein welcomed the combination of the new process and sister-city cooperation. During public comments, Caroline Revell said Sausalito Beautiful and the Downtown Sausalito Association endorsed the mural. Mayor Steven Woodside expressed hope that the project would encourage others. These statements describe support and expectations, rather than commitments to additional artworks.

Fundraising determines the spring ambition

The project’s budget is USD 100,000. Sausalito Sister Cities board member Robert Miros told The Press Democrat that it had received a USD 5,200 county grant and a USD 10,000 donation. Organizers are seeking tax-deductible contributions and hope to raise the balance and paint the steps by next spring.

Miros also described a proposed way to recognize contributions against particular steps. Details were still being developed, according to the newspaper, so the report supplies no finalized sponsorship levels. Community services director Bryan Vitali said the project was requesting city assistance with power washing and preparation for resurfacing, work that could cost USD 8,500. That figure is a possible preparation cost, not a reported payment already approved by the city.

A 1/12-scale model offers a way to examine the composition before painting. Supporters brought it to the council meeting, and The Press Democrat reports that it can be seen at the City Hall library branch. For a wider look at public art nearby, use the Wallscape map. Keep the project’s status in mind while exploring: approval has happened, but painting remains tied to raising the remaining money.

Source: The Press Democrat, October 12, 2026.