Long Beach’s Highest Mural Inspires the Pursuit of Dreams Among Bystanders
It’s not unusual for laughter to resonate throughout Brian Peterson’s household. For the muralist based in California and his spouse, Vanessa, daily life centers around their three children, who frequently revel in playing with drifting bubbles. This childlike awe and delight are central to Chase Dreams Like Bubbles, Peterson’s latest endeavor in Long Beach.
Created for the Marriott Hotel in the city as part of the Long Beach Walls and Art Renzei public art festival, the mural stretches across an otherwise empty wall, infusing it with a lively sense of hope. A young girl gazes skyward with optimistic eyes, bubbles swirling around her as they ascend the building. The artwork is saturated with a harmonious color scheme, where blue and orange shades contrast while still harmonizing with each other. The outcome is an enchanting feeling of lightness, mimicking the bubbles that twirl around the main figure. Nonetheless, these bubbles symbolize more than mere playfulness.
“As we pondered the vibrant artistic culture of Long Beach, we couldn’t help but contemplate how many individuals in this city harbored unfulfilled aspirations quietly within their hearts,” Peterson tells My Modern Met. “It was Vanessa who envisioned a child chasing bubbles as the ideal metaphor for pursuing [those] dreams. What started as a family moment in our living room has transformed into a towering visual reminder to never cease chasing what liberates your heart.”
It’s certainly a fitting analogy. Much like a dream, bubbles balance just out of our grasp, elegant in their movement, weightless in their essence, and transient in their existence. Yet, a bubble’s “ephemeral quality,” as Peterson characterizes it, does not diminish the mural’s ultimate call to action. Rather, it illustrates that dreams are not only perpetually changing but also sequential, with a new one always on the verge of surfacing even as one unexpectedly dissolves.
“As creatives, our dreams often present themselves similarly, one after another, fragile and brimming with potential,” Peterson states. “However, all too frequently discouragement or obstacles can lead those dreams to vanish before they ever take off. This mural serves as an invitation to stay open and hopeful.”
That “invitation” becomes even more significant due to the mural’s scale—both physically and artistically. For the first time, Peterson collaborated with his wife on his creative process, and, in another first, worked from a suspended scaffold to achieve greater heights. At night, he and his team projected the mural’s design onto the lower section of the hotel’s 12-story front, while virtual reality goggles along with the Stencil VR app assisted in “guiding the layout with precision” for the upper segments. In total, it required six days of focused effort to finish Chase Dreams Like Bubbles, which now towers as Long Beach’s highest mural at 86 feet.
“I don’t wish for this to simply be the tallest mural in Long Beach. I hope it becomes the most significant, engraved not just on a building but in the hearts of all who walk by,” Peterson adds. “I’ve encountered too many creative spirits who have quietly forsaken their callings. This mural is dedicated to them.”
To find out more about the artist and Chase Dreams Like Bubbles, visit Brian Peterson’s website.