Southern California-based artist, Nicole Marie Pete, has been selected by the Port of San Diego to create artwork as part of the new splash pad that will be installed at Portwood Pier Plaza in Imperial Beach.
In October 2025, the Port issued a call for professional artists in San Diego, Imperial, Orange, and Riverside Counties to develop artwork to visually enhance a mechanical enclosure next to future splash pad. A selection panel, including members of the Imperial Beach Arts Committee and the Port’s Arts Culture & Design Committee, evaluated nearly 50 applications and interviewed top candidates before recommending three qualified artists/artist teams to be voted upon by the Port’s Arts Culture & Design Committee.
Pete’s proposal includes the development of two murals – one for each side of the mechanical enclosure – that help celebrate Imperial Beach’s cultural heritage, environmental significance, and community traditions through play, imagination, education and connection.
Pete will receive up to $20,000 to develop her concept and produce artwork files that will be installed on the splash pad’s mechanical enclosure. The Port is supporting all installation costs.
Pete is a Southern California-based digital artist whose work explores Native American identity through a contemporary lens. A full-blooded Navajo (Diné) and enrolled member of the Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT), Nicole’s heritage plays a central role in both the content and purpose of her art. Her maternal clan is Bitter Water (Todích’íí’nii), and she was born for the Big Water clan (Tot’soh’nii). Inspired at an early age by her grandfather, Nicole has illustrated children’s books aimed at preserving the Navajo language, contributed to Native-focused publications, and created cover art for books celebrating Indigenous perspectives.
The Port and the City of Imperial Beach have been making a series of improvements to the Imperial Beach Pier and the adjacent Portwood Pier Plaza to activate and beautify it. In April 2024, the Board of Port Commissioners approved adding a new project, the Splash Pad at Portwood Pier Plaza. Construction for the splash pad is anticipated to begin in early March and be completed by December 2026.
