"Whether he's wearing a jack-o'-lantern head or a pandemic mask, Santa Cruz's surfer sculpture stands sentinel over West Cliff Drive, a young man stoically holding a surfboard as he stares out to the horizon. The surfer was commissioned in 1989 by the Santa Cruz Historical Association following a competition to create a monument to surfers past, present and future, says sculptor Thomas Marsh, who won the competition with a former student, Brian Curtis."
"Marsh says he also worked to bring other emotions to the sculpture for instance, he wanted to capture the feeling of being on the verge of adulthood, with all of the excitement and fear that brings. Some of the young men who were part of the 1930s surfing craze went on to fight in World War II, and not all returned, he says."
Five iconic Bay Area monuments commemorate local histories and challenge viewers to envision present and future meanings. Examples include a Julia Morgan–designed columbarium and an abstract bell tower that memorializes a child's last gifts. The Santa Cruz surfer sculpture was commissioned in 1989 after a competition and was created by Thomas Marsh and Brian Curtis to resemble 1930s surfers and evoke the verge of adulthood. The sculpture connects to wartime losses when some surfers did not return from World War II, experienced delays after the October 1989 earthquake, and was unveiled in 1992.
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