But, after an Oct. 9 meeting, it is clear the project still has a long way to go.

The "Signs of the Times" project is intended to celebrate Willow Glen's heritage by transferring old Lincoln Avenue pictures onto ceramic plaques and mounting the plaques onto the outside of Lincoln Avenue businesses.

Organizers are hoping to stretch the art project from Minnesota to Coe avenues, creating a historic-art walk for the community. But the process of collecting old photographs, finding an effective way to transfer the pictures onto ceramic tiles, coming up with the money and formulating a process to mount the plaques on the buildings has proved to be intricate and time-consuming. And members have clocked more than two years developing the art walk.

At its October meeting, the Willow Glen Beautification Project--a collaboration between the Willow Glen Business and Professional Association and Willow Glen Neighborhood Association--discussed the next steps that need to be taken to bring the historic-art walk to fruition on Lincoln Avenue.

Currently, the group's members are developing promotional material that will be distributed to Willow Glen businesses. They are also looking for an experienced grant writer to draft a proposal to obtain funding to raise the estimated $500 to $1,000 required to silk-screen pictures onto ceramic tiles. The project will also require additional funding to mount the tiles on buildings, which is not presently worked into its budget, according to beautification-project president Kitty Mason.

Beautification-project treasurer Marvin Bamburg says many of the building owners on Lincoln Avenue have expressed interest in the project but noted that no completion date has been set for the project.

The idea began with Willow Glen resident Nina Koepcke. She formulated the notion to superimpose historic Lincoln Avenue photographs onto ceramic tiles. Koepcke is an internationally recognized ceramics artist with a studio in her Willow Glen home and has provided her artistic expertise when needed.

In 2000, Koepcke helped to acquire an $800 grant from the Clay and Glass Arts Foundation of San Francisco to develop a prototype to show local businesses and grant organizations what the project is all about. The actual prototype, which is now available for everyone to view outside the Willow Glen Business Professional Association window at 1202 Lincoln Avenue, only cost $500 to produce. The remaining $300 was reimbursed back to the San Francisco foundation.

If you would like to donate old photographs or funds to the project, contact Kitty Mason at 408.297.4316 or kittymason@sbcglobal.net.