Creative 'Hop, Skip & Play on Omar Way' Sidewalk Mural Comes to Life

For immediate release: Nov. 17, 2021

Contact: Rachel Gordon, San Francisco Public Works, rachel.gordon@sfdpw.org

 

 

Neighbors, Students and City Officials to Celebrate New Interactive Art Installation

 

San Francisco, CA – A colorful dragon design freshly adorns a Miraloma Park sidewalk, providing kids with a new opportunity to get outdoors and do what they love: play and move.

 

City officials, elementary school students and community leaders on Thursday will formally inaugurate “Hop, Skip and Play on Omar Way” – a 176-foot-long interactive sidewalk mural that sparks the imagination of young people and gets them moving.

 

The celebration will take place on Nov. 18, 10:30 a.m., on Omar Way at Rockdale Drive.

 

The sidewalk art installation depicts a painted dragon hatched from its egg, encouraging kids to travel from a water/lava area to a land area to find the dragon flying in the sky – with spots along the way that encourage them to hop, skip and play.

 

“What a wonderful transformation of a public space – to benefit our youngest residents and to promote fun!” said District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar. “It is exciting to see this community-driven project come to life.”

 

The project got its start during the 2019 participatory budgeting process. Participatory budgeting gives members of the public an opportunity to suggest projects for the City to fund. Eligible projects are placed on a ballot for a community vote. Neighborhood residents, led by the Miraloma Park Improvement Club, and students from Miraloma Elementary School located on Omar Way, provided the vision for the imaginative sidewalk mural; Public Works refined the design, with community input. Supervisors Yee and Melgar secured funding for the $63,000 project.

 

“This is a great example of how with community support we can create a child-friendly environment in an urban setting,” Yee said. “I was proud to get this dragon walk moving forward and am thankful to Supervisor Melgar for working with the community and Public Works to see it through.”

 

The mural is made out of thermoplastic, which was laid out on the sidewalk in pieces and then melted into place with a mobile heater. The Public Works Community Engagement Team managed the project and Asphalt Impressions installed it.

 

“Thanks to the support of Supervisors Melgar and Yee and the passion and commitment of Miraloma Park residents, the dragon walk is now a reality,” said interim Public Works Director Carla Short. “Public Works takes pride in partnering on this creative endeavor to make San Francisco even more welcoming for families.”

 

Joanie van Rijn, the Miraloma Park Improvement Club board member who organized and secured neighborhood support for the engaging sidewalk mural, said she can’t wait to see the community’s vision burst with activity.

 

“The Omar Way sidewalk,” she said, “has been transformed into an inviting world where children are invited to hop, skip and play!”