STHS art teacher and students create mural on TRPA shipping container

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – What was once a dull gray shipping container has been transformed into a work of art at the watercraft inspection station in Meyers, California. The container houses equipment used to decontaminate boats arriving at the station that might harbor aquatic invasive species.

Now greeting boaters will be a colorful and creative mural painted by local artists and students. At the same time the mural puts the Clean, Drain, and Dry message front and center.

Shipping containers are the utilitarian cargo-carrying crates of the open ocean, hulking large metal boxes that began life transporting goods piggybacked on top of one another, bound for destinations around the globe.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and the Tahoe Resource Conservation District use a number of these shipping containers at various watercraft inspection stations around Lake Tahoe.

This summer TRPA commissioned South Tahoe High School teacher and artist Matt Kauffmann to transform one of the big gray boxes into a work of art. Kauffman and several of his current and former students spent many hours over the span of four nights to complete the mural project.

“Nobody said fighting aquatic invasive species couldn’t also be beautiful at the same time,” said Dennis Zabaglo, manager of TRPA’s Aquatic Invasive Species Program. “This mural emphasizes our Clean, Drain, and Dry message, in a colorful way that grabs boaters attention.

Would you like to see this work of art for yourself? It's located at our boat inspection station in Meyers, located at 2175 Keetak Street off Highway 89 in Meyers, CA.

All off-site boat inspections stations close for the season at the end of September. Winter boat inspections will be performed at the Cave Rock and Lake Forest boat ramps from 6 a.m. until 4 p.m. seven days a week.