A much-needed pop of color has been slowly transforming the four walls of the Sereno bus station in Vallejo. For the past month, passersby, pedestrians and passengers have become familiar with the paint-splattered sight of Vallejo muralist Melissa Penny busy at work.
As she puts on the final touches, Penny shared the moment with “The goddesses”: Mz. Askari of Sowonde Productions, Karen Finlay of Alibi Bookshop, Lisa Gutierrez-Wilson and Angela Jackson, the SolTrans project manager of the mural.
This SolTrans project isn’t the first time Penny has been selected to work with the transportation provider, but it certainly competes for the biggest. Penny, also known artistically as MalisBEE, has been previously commissioned to paint utility boxes all over the city, as well as a mosaic tile installation titled “Embark.”
Now, with a project spanning four walls, Penny took the opportunity to call on this powerful group of important women in the Vallejo community, and some brand new to the medium.
“I like that having a bigger job like this gives me an opportunity to share the love with other artists that I know in the community,” said Penny, joined by her tattoo artist and friend from Washington.
But the colorful fusion of whimsy and realism is more than a celebration of local artists. It honors the bus riders who visit the station regularly. And who will see their own likeness brilliantly incorporated in the painting.
“We were a little community who came in here and then we started meeting the people around this area,” said Penny. “They’re asking us how we’re doing and telling us about their day.” As she got to know more people, Penny began asking if they wanted to be on the mural. The response was always an emphatic “yes!”.
“This is Amy — she comes through all the time,” said Penny, pointing to one portrait with a photo posted nearby for reference. Two of the four walls feature a bus, one with passengers smiling through the bus windows and the other with riders standing out front.
Of course, with the busy transit station as her studio, Penny receives a lot of opinions on her progress. “Some people come by and say, ‘His neck’s not that fat’,” laughs Penny, adding that the portraits take the longest to get right.
This revitalization of the Sereno Transit Center has been in the works ever since SolTrans received the California Clean Air Grant in November. The building had been getting vandalized by someone Jackson calls “The Lipstick Bandit” whose artistic medium of choice was the cosmetic item.
When it came time to invest in the space, Jackson approached the project as an opportunity to revisit and give back to the community she came from.
“When I was in elementary and middle school I used to take the Vallejo transit to Mare Island to visit the sports center,” said Jackson. “I’ve always been a part of the bus system.”
For Penny, the transit center has proven an inspirational space for the way the wind blows through and around the building. She captured that natural phenomenon and added a signature of hers: butterflies. Not only is Vallejo in the migratory path of butterflies, but the whimsical creatures also unite the four walls with their own flight pattern across the mural.
These nine butterflies spread out across the four walls presented the ideal opportunity for Penny’s “goddesses” to add their own artistic flair.
“Why should I have all the butterflies?” Penny asked herself. “It should be women in the community who don’t necessarily do art who would enjoy the process of putting it on the wall.”
Finlay, who planned to paint her butterfly in the style of a book, felt honored to be participating. “We have Melissa’s murals around the corner from our house so I get to see them every day,” said Finlay. “This is an exciting opportunity to paint again,” said Finlay, who remembered the joy of painting as a kid.
Dolly Parton’s “Love Like a Butterfly” began to play, giving the “goddesses” their cue to take up their paint brushes and breathe life into the mural.
As Penny anticipates wrapping up the project in the next week, she plans to do a celebration. “I’d like to do a little party,” said Penny. “Because of the people who are in it who come here all the time and give us good vibes.”
The guest list would include the friends Penny has come to know this past month, like Jerry who stops by everyday to talk politics. And Dave who grew up in Vallejo during the ’60s and said the colors of the mural remind him of Vallejo of yesteryear.
Whether they become the artist or the subject, incorporating the community into her art is second nature to Penny. “When you put it out there it comes back to you, like the wind,” said Penny.