The much-anticipated dedication ceremony for the Pacific Beach Community Surf Garden will take place at 5 p.m. Friday, July 7 at Pacific Beach Rec Center, 1405 Diamond St.

The entire community is invited to celebrate and embrace this neighborhood beautification project that was four years in the making. Crafted by muralist Rob Tobin with the aid of nearly 300 volunteers and 64 donated surfboards, the colorful and innovative surf mural depicts flower petals fashioned from re-purposed mosaic-tiled surfboards.

“It’s been a long grind but we are now ready to have a community-wide dedication ceremony and celebration,” said Brian J. Curry, PB’s current honorary mayor who spearheaded the community/volunteer effort sponsored by Pacific Beach Town Council. “The event will include guest speakers, concessions, music, and more. The public will also have an opportunity to meet our remarkable artist Rob Tobin.”

Added Curry, “Donations are still needed to fund this community-sponsored beautification project. Donors have a surfboard-shaped tile permanently installed into the exhibit.” Visit pbtowncouncil.org/pb-rec-center-mural/ for more information and details.

“This experience was community art at its best,” noted muralist Tobin. “Everything from the fundraising to the surfboard drive, to the mosaic workshops has been an absolute joy. We’ve had well over 300 participants take part in one way or another.

“Honorary Mayor Brian Curry and the PB Town Council really hit it out of the park, with their dedication and organizational skills, seeing this project from concept to fruition. I’m looking forward to celebrating with everyone on July 7.”

Much of the work on the donated mosaic-tiled surfboards used as “flower petals” on the art piece adorning PB Rec Center was conducted over several weeks during volunteer workshops led by Tobin. The muralist said the surfboard flowers theme “just popped into my head.”

But Tobin added the mural nearly took a different form. “The first concept I drew actually had the surfboards looking more like fish sideways, but it just wasn’t speaking to me as much,” he said. “So we made them (fish) flowers. The surf garden theme (then) came from the flowers.”

Tobin’s been doing murals for 20 years for schools and nonprofits in places like North Park and National City, typically working with groups. “I rarely work alone,” he said adding the Pacific Beach Community Surf Garden was one of his more ambitious and challenging projects.

According to Curry, financial challenges remain with the surf mural. “Costs, due primarily to the extensive engineering and more expensive materials, have exceeded our original budget,” he said. “Costs have not yet exceeded our fundraising donations but there are significantly fewer funds to complete the project as envisioned (e.g., lighting, landscaping, etc.) and the intended use of excess funds for other rec center improvements.”

Curry said the surf mural is a community project to be proud of and is one that will endure.

“Come by the recreation center and take a look,” he said. “It is spectacular and an incredible artistic statement. It is a rec center beautification project that has evolved into a permanent City of San Diego Civic Art installation.”

“People love it,” concluded Tobin about the community surf mural, when asked about the reaction he received to the mural as he was installing it.