This article is a repost from September 2021. MERGE4 will exhibit at Blue Innovation 2022. Additionally, MERGE4 has generously offered to delight the feet of the 24 person delegation from Biarritz France: socks for all. And, for any Santa Cruz Works newsletter subscriber, a special discount on all socks. For online orders, use promo code: m4scworks2021

Sea Walls

MERGE4 is proud to have 5 of their local collaborators involved in the Sea Walls Santa Cruz project. From September 13th through the 18th the Sea Walls Santa Cruz project lead by MERGE4 collaborator Taylor Reinhold and sponsored by the PangeaSeed Foundation took on the very ambitious task of putting up 19 murals in just under a week. The Sea Walls program has produced over 400 works in cities internationally all spreading a message of ocean conservation and protection. If you wonder where Taylor gets his artistic talent, he is the son of Ann Morhauser / Annieglass.

MERGE4 has been lucky enough to get to watch their collaborators get involved in the project and follow along as their art came to life in the Santa Cruz city scape. Apart from Taylor Reinhold, MERGE4 collaborators Caia Koopman and Jimbo Phillips both produced murals on Soquel Avenue and River Street, respectively, and Scotty Greathouse and Maia Negre worked on pieces sponsored by the Made Fresh Crew on Mission Street and Church Street.

“The MERGE4 family is happy to see the expansion of public works here in Santa Cruz, CA.” Said MERGE4 Founder and CEO, Cindi Busenhart. “With a total of 19 murals going up around Santa Cruz, our small town has becoming nothing short of a gallery.”

Taylor Reinhold, the art director of the Sea Walls Santa Cruz project, has been a MERGE4 collaborator since the brand’s founding in 2016. He was introduced to the brand through yet another MERGE4 collaborator Scotty Greathouse who has been working on the back-end coordination of the Sea Walls project with Taylor. Both Taylor and Scotty have been planning this project for years with the original launch date slated for 2020. The original date was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The PangeaSeed foundation focuses on three main areas of involvement: science, education, and ARTivism. MERGE4 has a Sea Walls sock in collaboration with Taylor Reinhold and is looking forward to future collaborations with many of the artists involved in the Sea Walls Santa Cruz project.

MERGE4 would like to applaud Taylor for spearheading the project and all of the artists involved for their dedication to their work and their commitment to ocean conservation.