Keita Kobayashi
Since Fall 2025, students walking by the International House basketball court in Eleanor Roosevelt College no longer see a blank wall. Instead, they pass a bright pink wall adorned with an undulating vibrant pattern — a shocking interruption amid the college’s minimalist beige aesthetic.
“Never Turn Your Back On The Ocean” is the newest mural to join public art collection Murals of La Jolla and the first one on UC San Diego’s campus. The mural is located on the wall across from Café Ventanas along Scholars Drive North. Installed on both sides of the wall, the side facing the road has a full swirl while the side facing the basketball court is cut in half.
The mural was jointly funded by UCSD and Murals of La Jolla in the two organizations’ first direct collaboration. Murals of La Jolla, a project of La Jolla’s Athenaeum Music & Arts Library led by Patsy Marino, initiated the partnership in an effort to expand the project’s footprint. Last year, Murals of La Jolla commissioned modern artist Jim Isermann to design the piece.
The mural has received mixed reception from students. For second-year ERC resident Claire Cover, although the mural’s bright blues, pinks, and yellows are “a little bit garish,” they create a welcome contrast to the surrounding monochromatic buildings.
“I think even though it’s kind of intense, it actually works well to break up the monotony with that,” Cover said. “Even though the colors chosen are not my personal favorite, I do appreciate it, especially in the sea of brown and gray and ecru.”
While other on-campus art pieces, like those in the Stuart Collection, are permanent, “Never Turn Your Back On The Ocean” is a temporary mural that Murals of La Jolla installed using heat-applied vinyl. The vinyl’s removable nature simplifies repairs and allows Murals of La Jolla to replace the work at the end of its viewing period.
“It ends up being more sustainable, and we can take the material off because it’s temporary,” Stuart Collection’s community engagement manager Megan Theriault said. “It’s a wonderful way to bring art to campus in a way that’s flexible.”
However, depending on weather conditions, the mural is expected to only last for about three years.
Second-year ERC resident Carena Tanson was not as enthusiastic about the new installation method.
“It’s more manufactured — it’s less original — because it wasn’t the artist,” Tanson said. “They made it seem like the artist came out and painted it on the wall — they didn’t. It was just stuck on there.”
Tanson added that while the prospect of a new mural near her residential space was promising, witnessing the application itself detracted from her initial reaction.
“Walking to RIMAC and being like, ‘Oh, there’s this random guy with a white van and a blowtorch putting the thing on the wall,’ I was like, ‘it’s not that important,’” she said.
Isermann worked on the piece for over six months before Murals of La Jolla submitted it to UCSD’s art review committee, according to Theriault. Theriault and other campus curators enthusiastically welcomed the proposal to place the mural in the ERC area.
“We supported it from the campus perspective, so communications and partnering with the ERC leadership and the students in that space,” Theriault said. “Provost [Ivan] Evans is incredibly excited to bring more art to that space, so this is just the beginning of bringing color to that area.”
Taylor Chapin, executive director of Murals of La Jolla, shared that UCSD’s dedication to public art naturally made it a partner for the project.
“From the start, it was clear how deeply the university values the role of art in shaping campus life and enriching public space,” Chapin said. “The site at Eleanor Roosevelt College offered a dynamic architectural canvas. … It felt like a meaningful expansion of our program’s reach and impact.”
According to Chapin, Murals of La Jolla anticipates an all-new mural two to four years from now.
“Once ‘Never Turn Your Back On The Ocean’ reaches the end of its lifespan, we hope to commission a new artist for this same location, continuing the partnership and bringing fresh perspectives to the site over time,” she said.