By Laurie Hill, Capitola Arts and Cultural Commissioner
The Capitola Begonia Festival ended its 65-year run in September 2017 when Golden State Bulb, formerly known as Brown Ranch, stopped growing begonias. Capitola celebrated and grieved its final festival of begonia covered barges floating down Soquel Creek.
A rough drawing of Geoffrey Nelson’s project, with an image of himself to show approximate scale.
The festival organizing committee concluded the end of the era with a Gala at the Coconut Grove in Santa Cruz and a $20,000 contribution to the Capitola Arts and Cultural Commission to initiate a sculpture to commemorate the Begonia Festival.
This art honors the contributions of the begonia growers and the multitude of volunteers who maintained 65 years of this Capitola community tradition.
The piece was designed by Geoffrey Nelson and Lynn Jaye with construction assistance from Sandra Frank, is scheduled to be installed this month, adjacent to Soquel Creek at the corner of Wharf Road and Stockton Bridge Avenue.
Geoffrey Nelson, artist, with work in progress
Geoffrey Nelson said, “My sculpture “Beguiling Begonias” elevates this flower to a bold, colorful and bigger than life icon. Begonias adorned the floats and served as a colorful palette for all the festival’s activities. The three blossoms, each four feet wide with different colors, will rise out of a sand castle-shaped base. The base starts at the bottom in a deep blue, symbolizing the blue of the lagoon where the parade took place and gradually transitions to a light blue which symbolizes the sky above the beach. The flowers will gently glow at night with color changing internal LED’s. I hope the work serves as a beautiful greeting to people coming to the Village during the day and a subtle radiating presence for locals enjoying the Village at night.”
The Capitola Arts and Cultural Commission invites you to be a part of the sculpture unveiling, tentatively scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 22. Plans include a commemorative presentation at City Hall followed by remarks at the sculpture site.