As you know, I live in Santa Monica and frequent the beaches to surf, run, or relax. While surfing the other morning I noticed something different about the nearby lifeguard station: it wasn’t it’s usual grayish blue hue.  Instead, strikingly vibrant orange soaked the railings and legs with a mural covering the entire tower itself.

It wasn’t alone, either.

As I looked up and down the coast, I noticed that every single lifeguard tower had new life with another vivid color, and a different mural painted on it. How cool! It was like the Southern California coastline was a stretch of artwork.

And that’s exactly the intention of the project called “Summer of Color,” which was conceived by Portraits of Hope, a foundation that combines major public art projects with creative therapy for physically and mentally disabled children. This non-profit organization is responsible for over 20 community art projects nationwide including the Soaring Dreams Airship, a blimp that was covered in color and floated across the US; and Garden in Transit, the transformation of NYC taxi cabs into a multi-colored masterpiece.

Their latest project, the Summer of Color, has transformed over 100 lifeguard towers – from San Pedro to Leo Carrillo – into remarkable works of art, which has been dubbed the largest public art project in the U.S., and also one of the largest civic efforts in the world: 6,000 children and 2,500 adult volunteers are to thank for this tremendous project coming to life.

Drive along the coastline this summer and you’ll find lifeguard towers painted all colors of the rainbow. I found my favorite so far on the beach in Santa Monica:

As the summer rolls on and I spend more time at different beaches, I’ll be sure to put a new video up of different towers. Until then, why don’t you let me know which one is your favorite? What do you think of this project? Please leave your comments below.

Image courtesy of millerm217′s photostream on Flickr