Local artists Juan Navarro and Patrick Barwinski are painting a large-scale mural on Downtown’s Lime Street bridge, creating what may be the most visible public artwork in the city. The project, funded by Altura Credit Union with logistical support from the city, has required closing one of Riverside’s busiest streets for several days.
The bridge connects the county administration building to a remote parking lot and serves as a highly conspicuous landmark visible from both street level and the nearby freeway. With tens of thousands of people passing under or viewing the bridge daily, the mural represents the highest degree of public art visibility possible in Riverside.
“Whether it was painted or not, just the bridge being here has been an icon over the city of Riverside,” said Barwinski. “We’re just adding a little color today. It just enhances that memory, and now people would say, ‘I remember this when I used to go when I was a young kid.’”
For Navarro, the project represents a significant career milestone, coming immediately after the completion of his Artist in Residency grant. “The end of the residency is not the end of my career,” Navarro said. “I have to take what I got from the residency and make something new out of it.”…