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Spanning 232 feet, it’s covered with mosaic orange poppies, aquamarine ocean waves and a midnight blue starry sky. It’s also lined with Bay laurel, coast live oak and lupine-themed metal handrailing, along with ornate light posts in the shape of California fuchsias and Douglas irises, resembling Paris’ Art Nouveau floral metro style.
Named “Sea to Stars,” this new mosaic-tiled 116-step stairway – located in the alleyway between Alvarado Street at the lower end to San Benito Road at the upper end – is part of a larger effort by the city of Brisbane to uplift public art.
It’s a huge transformation for what was previously a dirt path known as the “Goat Trail” and used informally as a pedestrian walkway frequented by students on their way to school. It also serves as an additional passageway from the neighborhood to central Brisbane’s shops and businesses. City officials celebrated the completion of the staircase on April 25 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
These mosaic stairways are common in San Francisco (which has over 900 public stairways, according to the SF Parks Alliance), but not as much on the Peninsula. This is the first in Brisbane, but there will be more per the city’s 2025 Public Art Master Plan. The document outlines ways the city plans to integrate public art into the city to “promote beauty, creativity and community engagement.”
“This has been a dream project of mine,” said mosaic artist Angelina Duckett, who noted that it was an uncomfortable installation because she laid down 116 mini murals on the risers of the stairway. “I have seen the mosaic staircases throughout San Francisco over the years for as long as I can remember, and I’ve always thought, ‘I would absolutely love to do a staircase.’”
A Santa Clara University grad who has completed art installations throughout the Bay Area – including a curved seat wall and circular benches at Mora Park in Mountain View and mosaic wall art at Hurrica Restaurant in Redwood City – Duckett was one of 19 artists who applied to design and construct art for the Brisbane Artist Walkway.
In November 2024, she awarded contracts totaling $240,000 to McGrath Arts for lighting, handrails and stairway landing panels. Funds to support the artists’ contributions to the project came from the city’s Public Art Fund. (The city also paid the contractor $638,210 for the construction of the staircase and collected donated porcelain and ceramic tiles and glass marbles for the mosaic.)
“I think that the committee really wanted it to reflect the character and the spirit of Brisbane,” said Parks & Recreation Director Noreen Leek. “So you’ll see those threads woven throughout the site, whether it be on the mosaics or on the handrails and type two railing panels, you’ll see the local flora and fauna reflected in those things. … They wanted it to be a testament to the community, what the community values in terms of the ecology, but also just to evoke the spirit of its residents.”
The sky in the mosaics specifically pays homage to Brisbane’s nickname, “City of Stars,” a nod to its holiday tradition to display large stars on homes.
Scott McGrath, who runs McGrath Arts with his wife Madelyn, noted that design firms often rush to get the design done and don’t let the fabricator iterate on their work.
“We really appreciated the trust in us and our aesthetic,” he said. “Not that we were given complete free reign. … Because we always want to work collaboratively with everyone, but that we could explore a little bit and figure out how to make embossed lettering.”
He added that the cost of art is small compared to its benefits.
“With modernism, people consider decoration (to) not (be) important,” he said. “But in fact, people really respond to it, and it becomes kind of like a special place. Art makes it not ‘Anywhere America.’”
Duckett said the stairway, which took 1 1/2 years to complete, is a “special hidden gem.”
Brisbane embraces art
In recent years, the city has put measures in place to encourage public art. Its Art in Public Places Ordinance, established in 2014, requires developers to designate 1% of building development costs for projects that are at least $1 million to the fund.
The city is establishing an artfully designed bench program, starting with benches in the Mission Blue Center, the dog park and the marina.
The city created an interactive map with photographs, artist bios, history and details for the city’s public art pieces, including the city’s fire hydrants that are decorated in art.
“Brisbane has embraced art for its entire history,” said City Manager Jeremy Dennis. “I think you can see it in the way that we use our old fire hydrants and decorate them, and this is an extension of that spirit. … We care about the community’s interaction with art, and we hope that the experience that people have, whether they’re residents or folks from other communities, is one of joy, is one of excitement, exploration, and I hope it just gives them a good feeling when they come to our community.”
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