Beach beauty

The city’s junior lifeguards are doing their part to beautify the

beach.

In addition to their training to keep the beaches safe, this week

they have been working on a beach beautification project .

The junior lifeguards are working with Northern California artist

Donna Billick to make tiles depicting life in Huntington Beach, which

will be assembled to create a mural. When they are done, visitors to

Huntington Beach will get a glimpse into what it’s like to live in

Surf City.

The clay tiles will be painted by junior guards, then Billick will

then take them to her studio in Davis, Calif., where she will finish

the glazing process and start her work on the mosaic.

The mural will be 700 square feet when it is completed.

It will then be placed on a wall located near the Junior Lifeguard

Headquarters on Pacific Coast Highway between Huntington and First

streets.

“It’s going to be fantastic,” said Mike Eich, Junior Lifeguard

Program coordinator.

The response from the junior lifeguards has been extremely

positive, he added.

“It’s just outstanding,” he said, “They have just done some

wonderful work.”

Billick has won numerous awards and her public art decorates three

floors of a Sacramento court house along with 400 other sites across

the country

-- Jose Paul Corona