LAFAYETTE, CALIFORNIA – By the late 1970s, cities like Lafayette and Walnut Creek in Contra Costa County were rapidly evolving from quiet semi-rural communities into thriving suburban centers. Along with new development came a growing appreciation for public art and architectural embellishment.
It was an era when incorporating art into commercial and civic buildings was becoming popular, reflecting a nationwide trend toward beautifying public spaces and integrating art into everyday life. But public art wasn’t on nearly as strong a footing as it is today–it was a new concept, approach mostly ad hoc.
In Walnut Creek, a city that had long supported community arts programs, the late ’70s set the stage for major cultural investments (the city would soon plan its Regional Center for the Arts, opened in 1990).
Likewise, Lafayette, though smaller, was developing its downtown and welcoming artistic enhancements to its cityscape. Within this climate, several striking concrete bas-relief murals were commissioned in 1978 from artist Tony “T.” Sheets, adding creative flair to new buildings in Lafayette and in Walnut Creek’s Shadelands area.
The murals still stand today, but they’re largely forgotten. You probably drive by them all the time, but most people have never stopped to give them much though.
Here’s the story behind them and their creator.
About the Artist: Tony Sheets (T. Sheets)
Tony Sheets (1942–2024) was the son of famed California muralist Millard Sheets, but he forged his own path as an artist.
Growing up in the Claremont art colony, Tony was immersed in art from an early age and apprenticed with prominent artists.
Notably, in the 1960s he studied under sculptor Albert Stewart and later assisted artist Tom Van Sant, with whom he developed innovative techniques for large-scale wall sculptures. Through these apprenticeships, Sheets became adept at creating cast concrete bas-reliefs and applied sand-and-cement wall reliefs, a skill set that would define much of his work.
By the 1970s, Tony Sheets had emerged as a public artist in his own right.
Sheets’ style often involved stylized, nature-inspired motifs and narrative scenes rendered in durable materials like concrete and mosaic. He shared his father’s philosophy of bringing art into public life
Over his career, Tony completed numerous public commissions (for example, his “Evolution of Los Angeles” bas-reliefs in downtown L.A. and the 2017 “Gift of the Valley” mural in Pomona) and later dedicated himself to preserving his father’s artworks.
It was during the late 1970s – amid a building boom in Contra Costa’s suburban towns – that Tony Sheets was commissioned to create the several concrete murals that are the focus of this story. These works showcase his early mature style and the integration of art and architecture characteristic of the era.
The Lafayette Bas-Relief Murals (1978)
In 1978, a new two-story office building at 3650 Mount Diablo Boulevard in Lafayette became the canvas for Tony Sheets’ artistry.
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Located near Dolores Drive on the town’s main thoroughfare, this commercial building was constructed with prominent expanses of its façade reserved for art. Sheets was commissioned to design and sculpt a series of bas-relief cement panels directly into the building’s exterior walls.
The result was a set of striking concrete murals – often referred to collectively as “Bas-Relief Walls” in Lafayette’s public art catalog – that wrap the building’s street-facing sides.
Themes and motifs
The Lafayette murals draw on natural imagery and local context. In one large panel, several birds fly above reeds and grasses, silhouetted against the sun.
This motif may reflect Lafayette’s semi-rural environment of the 1970s, evoking the wildlife and wetlands of the region (the town is adjacent to open spaces and reservoirs where such birds are found). Other panels on the building are similarly abstract yet suggestive of nature and movement.
The bas-reliefs are monochromatic (the natural grey of concrete), relying on depth, texture, and form to convey the images as sunlight creates shifting shadows over the day. This subtle integration with the architecture exemplifies the period’s modernist aesthetic – art work that “is compatible with [a building’s] architecture, landscape, and surrounding environment,” as later public art guidelines would say.
Techniques
To create these murals, Sheets utilized the techniques he and Van Sant pioneered a decade earlier – either casting the designs in concrete and attaching them as panels, or sculpting the cement in situ before it fully set.
The precise method for 3650 Mt. Diablo is not documented in public sources, but the crisp lines and dimensionality suggest expert craftsmanship in low-relief sculpture. Sheets likely worked closely with the building’s architects during construction.
The durability of the medium has allowed the reliefs to survive the decades with minimal maintenance – the concrete panels are essentially part of the building’s structure. They were recently pressure washed, so right now is a perfect time to see them.
Sheets also completed a commission at Shadelands in Walnut Creek. Those murals are still present today as well, and have similar nature-focused motifs.
Legacy and Reflections
Nearly half a century since their creation, the 1978 concrete murals by Tony Sheets in Lafayette and Walnut Creek stand as early examples of a legacy of public art in Lamorinda and Walnut Creek which continues today.
In recent years, there has been a growing appreciation for mid-century and 1970s public art in California, as communities recognize these works as part of their cultural history. Efforts are made to catalog and protect such art.
For example, Lafayette’s inclusion of Sheets’ mural in its public art inventory and Walnut Creek’s ongoing commitment to public art (from murals to sculptures) create an environment where these older works are valued rather than forgotten.
Should either mural ever be at risk – say, due to a building renovation – it’s likely that local arts and historical groups would advocate for their preservation or relocation, much as Tony Sheets himself did for other artworks.
Today, the public art that Sheets helped to pioneer is very much alive. Local ordinances now encourage developers to add public art into all new buildings in the 925, and robust art programs like those of Walnut Creek and Lafayette bring sculptures, art benches and other artistic creations into our downtowns.
Sheets passed way earlier this year at the age of 82. But he’d be happy to know that his legacy of valuing and protecting public art lives on.
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