After six days and more than 300 cans of spray paint, artist Brian Peterson painted the tallest mural in Long Beach, spanning nearly 10 stories high.
The 86-feet-tall mural on the exterior of the Marriott Long Beach Downtown features a young girl surrounded by bubbles. Peterson hopes the work inspires adults to chase their dreams like they did in their childhood.
“In the same way a young child would chase bubble, after bubble, what if we chased our dream the same way?” Peterson said. “What if we can encourage adults to return back to their childlike innocence, and not be afraid to pursue the things on their hearts, not be afraid of failure, not be afraid of disappointment.”
Peterson is best known for his renowned Kobe Bryant murals, which have decorated the walls of Ovation Hollywood and the gym at Nickerson Gardens.
His most recent mural was created as part of this year’s Long Beach Walls, an annual, week-long festival that features 12 artists’ works that blends art with local culture and history, according to its website.
Peterson, who wanted his work to inspire and connect the community, said he painted the girl to represent the diversity of the city. He was often asked about the ethnicity of the girl, he said, but he didn’t realize how the mural resembled his 5-year-old daughter until after its completion.
“She’s seen the mural. She loves it,” the artist said. “When I got home from the trip, she presented me with a little drawing she made of Daddy painting the mural. She did her best sort of rendition of it.”
Since 2015, over 120 murals have been executed by Long Beach Walls across 40 square miles of Long Beach. This year’s theme was “Art: A Catalyst for Change.”
Artists painted murals in locations throughout the city, such as downtown, public schools like Lowell Elementary and Renaissance High School and other cultural settings.
A digital guide to the murals is available here.