Ocean-Themed Mural Makes Splash : ArtWalk: Painting helps celebrate the revitalization of downtown to showcase the $3.6-million renovation that is now nearly complete.

Geri Hayes was strolling through downtown Ventura on Saturday when a strange sight caught her eye.

Splashed across the center of California Street just below City Hall were azure dolphins, lavender seashells, an enormous purple starfish and a dozen people bent over, creating one of the city’s largest public art projects.

The vibrant ocean-themed mural, painted on the torn-up promenade between Poli and Main streets, was among Saturday’s events celebrating the revitalization of downtown Ventura. The city hosted its seventh ArtWalk to showcase the $3.6-million renovation, which is almost complete.

California Street was not paved in time for the ArtWalk because of striking asphalt, concrete and cement workers. So city officials decided to let the community paint the closed street instead.

“We tore the street up on Monday, they went on strike the next day,” said city engineer Mark Watkins, who helped paint a giant purple-and-green seashell with his two young children. Once the strike ends, Watkins said, workers will pave over the artwork.

“It is kind of a fun thing,” he said. “You know it’s not going to last forever.”

Hundreds of people crowded the new, wider sidewalks on Main Street on Saturday evening, enjoying balmy 70-degree temperatures and a light breeze that flapped colored flags adorning the city’s new antique-style lampposts. More than 50 shops and galleries stayed open until 10 p.m., and musical groups serenaded the throng.

Standing above the California Street mural, Mayor Tom Buford and City Council members Rosa Lee Measures and Gary Tuttle smiled approvingly.

“What we had in mind was a paved street,” Buford said. “But instead, they made an opportunity out of a disappointment.”

The city launched its first ArtWalk two years ago. Saturday’s was the first since the downtown face lift began about five months ago.

“One of the highlights was the first one,” Tuttle recalled. “I think it really woke up people to the potential for downtown. That’s what started this.”

“It is,” Measures said, “just the beginning of more good things to come.”

Indeed, plans for a downtown movie theater are in the works and new restrooms and landscaping are slated for the central Plaza Park.

A steady crowd of painters worked on the California Street mural throughout the day. Many passersby took up paint brushes and joined in the project.

“What a fun city,” Hayes said, swinging a paint can and smiling under a big straw hat. “This was just perfect. I just love the whole atmosphere of Ventura.”

Earlier in the afternoon, Torrance resident Pearl Baker shopped her way down Main Street with two friends. A visiting tourist camping at nearby Faria Beach, Baker was charmed by Ventura’s new look, she said.

“If you just want to kick back and relax, this is the place to go,” she said. “I just feel totally at peace here.”