Town & Country Village is working with San Francisco-based muralist Maxwell Bala to add an artistic touch to the shopping center with two Palo Alto-themed murals.

Bala said that Town & Country hired him to paint two murals on either side of the CVS entrance.

“I was commissioned by the Town & Country shopping center to paint these murals,” Bala said. “The mural we have here [on the left side of CVS] is going to say ‘greetings from Palo Alto,’ and then the other mural [on the right side of CVS] is … going to feature a collage of images from Palo Alto.”

According to Town & Country’s official website, the murals will be finished later this spring.

The mural on the left side of the CVS entrance will highlight aspects of Palo Alto history and culture within each enlarged letter of the city’s name. For example, the first “L” in “Palo Alto” pays homage to the twin trees that gave Palo Alto (in Spanish, meaning “tall tree”) its namesake.

“The ‘L’ featuring a historic photo of the two trees here in Palo Alto … is pretty iconic — something that I feel really represents Palo Alto and its history,” Bala said. “Every image within the piece really touches on Palo Alto and its community and its history.”

According to Bala, who runs Maxfield Bala Creative, a company specializing in large-scale custom mural paintings, history is often a key aspect of his paintings.

“Representing history is a huge part of any mural that you paint,” Bala said. “It’s kind of nice to be able to represent where the city or the locations came from.”

Palo Alto High School junior Katie McCue said she appreciates the new artwork in Town & Country.

“I personally love seeing murals and art in public places,” McCue said. “I think it really lightens up and brightens the public.”