MURALS LOOK AT LOCAL HISTORY
Two Granizo tile murals now in regional heritage museum in Salinas
An artist whose work is on display around the globe and whose life has serendipitous ties to the history of Monterey County, will now have two of his pieces on display at the California Welcome Center and regional heritage museum in Salinas.
Guillermo Wagner Granizo was an American artist who was born in San Francisco in 1923. He is best known locally for his 11- by 45-foot tile mural depicting scenes from Monterey's history on an exterior wall at the Monterey Conference Center's corner on Pacific Street and Del Monte Avenue.
Granizo died in 1997 at the age of 72, but his artwork lives on.
“Most people have seen the incredible Monterey mural by Granizo on Pacific Street on the back wall of the Conference Center, but if you do research on the artist, you will see he has major art murals throughout the world,” said Denise Estrada, Salinas Valley Tourism and Visitors Bureau advisory council member.
Two ceramic tile murals by Granizo are now the property of the Salinas Valley Tourism and Visitors Bureau and will be on permanent display at its regional heritage center in the historic Southern Pacific freight depot building which houses the California Welcome Center.
The Salinas Valley Tourism and Visitors Bureau promotes economic development through regional heritage tourism at the California Welcome Center inside the historic freight building — the oldest surviving commercial building in Salinas.
There are other structures and exhibits that make up the heritage park that tell part of Salinas' history. These components are portion of the Intermodal Transportation Center complex in Salinas which sits on the National De Anza Historic Trail.
In 1776, around the time of the American Revolution, Spanish Lieutenant Colonel Juan Bautista de Anza, leading a contingent of more than 240 men, women, and children for more than 1,800 miles, arrived to establish a settlement at San Francisco Bay. That expedition came through Alta California in what is now Monterey County including Mission San Antonio de Padua established in 1771, the Salinas Valley along the Salinas River, over to Monterey and the Carmel Mission — then only about 6 years old — through what is now the city of Salinas and on to the San Juan Bautista area 21 years before its mission was built.
The two ceramic tile murals, tell the story of Granizo's association with historic figure Juan Bautista De Anza. To celebrate and share the story of how the Tourism and Visitors Bureau came to acquire the murals that are now housed in the California Welcome Center's heritage museum and how that acquisition linked two families to their heritage stories, an event was held in late February.
The celebration called, “Stonelight Tile and Serendipity,” linked Granizo's unique artistry and huge volume of work, said Estrada.
Stonelight Tile of San Jose was the source of the tile the artist created his work on, and Serendipity is the art of finding something of good fortune, accidentally.
“With the series of links from the start of the relationship of Granizo to Stonelight Tile, to me connecting with Granizo's son to purchase the art, to the De Anza murals being exhibited in a building that I helped to save, to the reunion of families who had never met, truly seemed serendipitous,” said Estrada. “I do not believe in coincidences. I feel like at times, it seems like there are strings being pulled from above by a historic figure who has passed on and possibly the artist who admired him so much.”
Estrada helped lead a group of like-minded community members to save the Southern Pacific Freight Depot building from the wrecking ball.
One of Granizo's sons, Ron Wagner, and his family attended the event and brought with them another Granizo piece called “Stonelight Tile.” Architect Peter Kasavan and his family of “Stonelight Tile” heritage, were also in attendance and helped to tell the story of the strange connections that have occurred over time through acts of serendipity that came to unite two families and brought the murals to be displayed at the Welcome Center.
“I purchased them a year ago from Ron Wagner, the son of Guillermo Wagner Granizo through his Granizo Studio where he has a number of Granizo's works for sale,” said Estrada. “The combined donations from Peter Kasavan's family and my matching donation, made the purchase possible.”
The two tile murals Estrada bought were part of an autobiographical selection of times that Granizo produced to tell the stories of his life. Granizo was a great admirer of De Anza and captured this in his art. Granizo also went to Arizpe Sonora Mexico and was able to place Anza's remains in a new marble sarcophagus that he helped to design.
Estrada met late Salinas Architect Jerome Kasavan in the 1980s, working with him on local building project when she was a city employee. She would later work with his son Peter Kasavan when he took over his father's business. When she was with the city she was asked to do an environmental assessment of the Southern Pacific Freight Depot and found it to be in a dangerous environmental condition though the building's bones were sound. The city directed it to be demolished, but her research and collaboration with historian Kent Seavy and preservation activist Ruth Andersen, found the building was a significant landmark property and needed to be preserved. A successful public campaign and grantfunding effort helped save and rehabilitate the building.
By 2022, the California Welcome Center had moved into part of the building and now houses the regional heritage museum.
Estrada met Craig Kaufman, primary contact at the Welcome Center and executive director of the Salinas Valley Tourism and Visitors Bureau, and told him that his work had far exceeded any vision that the original team had foreseen, and volunteered to work with him.
Kaufman began developing preliminary projects around the National Juan Bautista De Anza Historic Trail. When Estrada became aware of Granizo's association with Anza and the work he produced, both Estrada and Kaufman felt it was appropriate to see if the tile murals were available.
By then, Estrada had become friends with Granizo's son, Ron Wagner as she had made art purchases from Granzino Art and he agreed that his father would have loved to see his work on Anza be exhibited at the Salinas site of the trail.
After the tile murals were mounted, Estrada invited Peter Kasavan over to show off the art work. He astonished Estrada when he said that Granizo was the resident artist at Stonelight Tiles in San Jose and that his uncle, David Kasavan was the business owner and a friend of Granizo at the time they were produced.
“It turns out that the Wagner family and the Kasavans were linked by their ancestors' production of beautiful tile art work but the families had never met,” said Estrada. “The event brought the two families together in what I will call a joyous reunion. Bob Kasavan called it a reunion of friends, never met. Both families brought their adult children and many grandchildren. They were told that this story was part of their legacy as it had been a completed circle.”
To view a video of the Stonelight Tile and Serendipity event, visit https://tinyurl.com/2hxmh7xb.