The City of Capitola will be home to a future female surfer statue originally planned for Pleasure Point. (Alexandria Bordas — Santa Cruz Local file)

CAPITOLA >> After months of navigating pushback from East Cliff Drive residents, the team behind the female surfer statue project announced today it will have a new home: Capitola Esplanade. 

The proposed 18-foot tall statue representing women’s contributions to surfing was originally envisioned in an area on East Cliff known as the Dirt Farm, which overlooks a surf break called Jack’s, or 38th. 

Despite gaining early support from dozens of local waterwomen, surfboard shapers, artists and Santa Cruz County Supervisor Manu Koenig, whose district includes the area, ultimately the project faced pushback from many neighbors of the Dirt Farm.

“When we first knew this project was going to go public I thought the main concerns would be physically her, what she looked like, how old she is, etc.,” said Kari Lochhead, one of the project leads. “At first I thought people had legitimate concerns that I wanted to address, but it quickly became a lot of misinformed conversations. So the negativity around it from social media posts to podcast interviews about it really spiraled and it was disappointing. This is not offshore drilling, this is a female surf statue, the third of its kind in the world. And if we can’t celebrate and come together on that then we’re in the wrong space.”

The pivot to Capitola was natural, Lochhead said, with the village being a known travel destination and home to the Women on Waves surf competition held in October of each year. Capitola’s surf breaks were also inducted into the Santa Cruz World Surfing Reserve in 2025, adding the city’s five surf breaks to the protected area now spanning seven miles.

The two surfer statues — the male version on West Cliff Drive and the proposed female statue at Capitola — will bookend the preserved coastline, Lochhead said.

“Capitola has become a place that’s part of the greater community. They host movie nights and festivals and concerts, they are about bringing our county together,” she said.

Capitola Vice Mayor Gerry Jensen said he closely followed the female statue’s saga, and was delighted when Lockhead reached out to him and other council members with the idea to move it to Capitola. 

Jensen has four daughters, all of whom love the ocean, and he said before moving to the area 15 years ago they would spend their free weekends at Capitola Beach. Moving the statue from its proposed location at the Dirt Farm to Capitola isn’t a concession, he said, it’s a chance for it to have a new home. 

“I think having the statue here symbolizes a lot of what Capitola stands for,” Jensen said. “When you get into the village of Capitola, it’s such a small geographical location but it’s welcoming to all. You can be a person who likes to fish and be on wharf, or a person who appreciates the artistic features so you can look at the Venetian Hotel, and eventually go to Esplanade Park to see an amazing statue that symbolizes women surfers and what they’ve done in the whole region.”

Kaila Pearson grew up on the west side of Santa Cruz in a renowned surfing family. Daughter of famed surfboard shaper Bob Pearson of Pearson Arrow Surfboards, Kaila said her earliest childhood memories are of being in the ocean – swimming, free diving, surfing and tidepooling. The male statue was an iconic part of her day-to-day life, because it represents how deeply surfing is interwoven into the Santa Cruz community, she said. 

“It’s part of our identity,” Kaila said. “To finally have a female counterpart to the male statue is very exciting and powerful. As someone who was oftentimes the only female in the surf lineup growing up, it’s really important to keep seeing other badass females in the ocean. I believe this female statue will serve as motivation to young girls.”

The statue will be privately funded, and created by sculptors Brian W. Curtis and Thomas Marsh, the same artists who crafted the original West Cliff Drive male surfer statue. It’s still in the initial phase, Lockhead said, and next steps include a review by the city’s arts commission and then eventually approval by Capitola City Council. The exact location is still in discussion, and if approved, installation is targeted for 2027.

“This is an East Side loss and her win,” Lochhead said. “No one deserves to be in a position where they have to constantly justify their place, and that includes this project.”

This story has been updated to reflect the correct spelling of Kari Lochhead’s last name. 

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