Students may have noticed two shocks of bright color on either side of the CVS entrance when walking through Town and Country — two murals by artist Maxfield Bala, celebrating the spirit and culture of Palo Alto. 

Maxfield Bala is a Bay Area-based mural artist who started his art career through his passion for graffiti. He has worked on both murals and illustrations for companies such as Strava and Fairfield, and California counties like Santa Clara and Sonoma.

On April 14, Bala began work on the first of the Town and Country murals on the left side of the CVS entrance. 

“They [Town and Country] reached out to me, and we had the mission of trying to create pieces that would honor Palo Alto and represent Palo Alto, but that were really fun, colorful and a little bit more contemporary,” Bala said.

For the students at Paly, the new mural serves as a symbol for change and continuity.

“There was [another] mural that used to be there,” Paly sophomore Reed Hoffman said. “I kind of always grew up with that one; it gave me some nostalgia, but it was probably outdated … [the new murals] fit the Town and Country area.”

Bala aimed for a modern representation of Palo Alto.

“Town and Country was wanting something fresh, new, colorful, and that really represented Palo Alto,” Bala said. 

In addition to representing the city itself, Bala aimed to depict the local wildlife and scenery in the murals, as they are a big part of Palo Alto’s identity. 

“I wanted to really embed a lot of natural elements, local species, like the monarch butterfly, the Bullock’s Oriole, and the surrounding hills,” Bala said. “California, much like the rest of the world, is constantly being developed further and further, and most people have less and less access to natural areas or natural surroundings.”