Official Friendship Cities Agreement Signed Between The Mayors of Santa Monica and Brighton, A New Mural is Revealed!

This weekend, the Mayor of Brighton & Hove, Lizzie Deane, and the Mayor Pro Tem of Santa Monica, Kristin McCowan each signed the official Friendship City

Partnership Agreement in person (following a virtual signing in May) with senior representatives of Visit Brighton and visiting leaders of SMTT in attendance.

The Mayors also unveiled a dedicated street art mural to mark the collaboration by Santa Monica artist, Ruben Rojas, on Brighton’s Palace Pier.

The Mayor of Brighton & Hove, Lizzie Deane, and the Mayor Pro Tem of Santa Monica, Kristin McCowan signed the of icial Friendship City Partnership Agreement at Brighton Pier, and unveiled a new street art mural by leading Santa Monica street artist Ruben Rojas.

By using the urban landscape as his canvas, Ruben encourages communities to change for the better through optimism and collaboration. His portfolio of work extends beyond murals. He is a TED speaker, helping spread the message of art creating impact, a product designer and also a corporate consultant with past campaigns including clients such as BMW, American Express, and W Hotels.

“The message of belonging is a deep human connection with self and those we share the world with. Knowing we belong here and have purpose is critical to oneself. And Art is a great connector and unifier far beyond language. Being able to represent Santa Monica in the partnership is an incredible honor, and I’m happy to be able to spread the love far beyond Santa Monica,” said Ruben Rojas.

The Santa Monica and Brighton Friendship City Pact marks a new chapter for the tourism industries of Brighton and Santa Monica as they partner to celebrate the parallels between the culture, history, food scenes and creative communities of the two cities, and of course their iconic piers, both over 100 years old, which opened a decade apart in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Misti Kerns, President & CEO, SMTT said, “We are proud to stand side by side with Brighton as our partner city in the UK. The desire to collaborate, support each other and exchange ideas between our pier cities and their citizens is really what drives this synergy. The two cities share iconic piers, beautiful coastlines, rich cultures and vibrant communities and so the partnership was a natural fit for us”.

#santamonicalovesbrighton