Santa Cruz’s iconic surfer statue has long celebrated the city’s surf culture – but it tells only half the story, write two veteran Santa Cruz surfers, Kaila Pearson and Sarah Gerhardt, the first woman to surf Mavericks in 1999. From Antoinette Swan and the Hawaiian princes to generations of pioneering women who challenged barriers in the lineup, women have helped shape Santa Cruz surfing from the beginning, they argue. A companion statue honoring the women of the water would, they write, recognize women’s often-overlooked contributions and reflect the full history of our surf town. If Santa Cruz values its surfing heritage, they believe, it should make that legacy visible for future generations.
Female surfer statue
Lookout news and Community Voices opinion coverage of a statue to honor female surfers proposed for the Dirt Farm area of Pleasure Point, then for the Capitola Esplanade.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Why a female surfer statue matters: Two Santa Cruz surfers share their stories
Local female surfers Kaila Pearson and Sarah Gerhardt explain why the statue project matters to the Santa Cruz County community and to them personally.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
We don’t need a female surf statue; we need to make surfing safer for women in Santa Cruz
Longtime Santa Cruz surfer Alaya Vautier has spent three decades in the water and says sexism, racism and exclusion remain deeply embedded in local surf culture. While she respects the intentions behind a female surf statue – now proposed for Capitola – she believes symbolism alone cannot address those problems and might even reinforce narrow ideas about who belongs in the lineup.
Posted inLatest News
Team behind proposed female surfer statue sets sights on a new location for 2027 installation
The “To Honor the Women of the Water” project team is shifting to the Capitola Esplanade for its female surfer statue, rather than the East Cliff Dirt Farm in Pleasure Point, to be the home of the statue after it was appealed. The Capitola City Council is expected to vote on the project in the coming months.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
I helped design the male surfer statue – here’s why the female surfer monument deserves to move forward
The proposed monument to women surfers in Pleasure Point is drawing both strong support and familiar resistance. But as a co-creator of Santa Cruz’s iconic “To Honor Surfing” statue, author Brian W. Curtis says he’s seen how meaningful public art can shape community identity. He believes the monument is thoughtfully designed and locally rooted and, since it’s privately funded, he says it won’t cost taxpayers anything. It’s time, he writes, to trust the vision and recognize the women who help define our surf culture.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
The last patch of old Santa Cruz dirt: Pleasure Point’s female surf statue is kicking up a community dilemma
OPINION: While Pleasure Point’s female surfer statue has broad support, Nikki Hotvedt takes issue with the proposed location and a process she says has moved forward too quickly.
Posted inRecreation & Sports
Surfer statue ‘to honor the women of the water’ proposed for Pleasure Point
The Pleasure Point resident spearheading the project said the statue would connect Santa Cruz’s Eastside to the Westside, where a bronze male surfer has stood with his board for nearly 35 years. The approximately 17-foot-tall monument with a female figure wearing a wetsuit and holding a longboard is proposed for a bluff along East Cliff Drive.
