For Jack and Alise Eastgate, this past year has been a busy one. They were chosen along with forty-nine other artists to contribute their take on the Oakland Athletics elephant mascot, Stomper, for the A’s 50th anniversary “Paint the Stomper” event. This in addition to the Eastgates being selected to paint a mural for the Bay Area Mural Festival in Oakland.

The A’s were looking to do something fun and exciting connected to their “Rooted in Oakland” campaign and it was also a chance for the organization to get involved in Oakland Art Month. The team commissioned artists to create 50 unique Stomper statues and place them all over the city at various locations. This is where the Eastgates come into play.

Originally from Fiji, Jack moved to the Bay Area in 2003 and graduated from California State University, East Bay in 2011 with a bachelor of arts in graphic design.

“The graphic design element allows my partner and I to conceptualize and illustrate what our design will look like and we are able to adjust it as we work,” said Jack.

When people look at the Stomper, dubbed the “Pacific Slugger,” they will notice the uniqueness of the statue and how it differs from the Stompers created by other artists. The statue is located at Mad Oak Bar and it sits on display in the middle of the yard for people to admire or take pictures and videos with.

“The tattoo that you see on the chest and back pays homage to my Polynesian roots and was inspired by A’s pitcher Sean Manaea,” said Jack.

In order to be considered for the project, artists had to submit their application and portfolio in November and, if chosen, were given two months to create their own versions of Stomper. All 50 statues were unveiled at the beginning of May as part of Oakland Art Month.

“Someone had reached out to my wife about this project and we had put our portfolios, biographies and a sketch of what the Stomper would look like,” said Eastgate. “The day that the statue arrived to our house, we forgot to tell our landlord and they were scared to see a six-foot-tall Stomper in the hall.”

Working with the Oakland Athletics has been a positive experience for the couple as the baseball organization has helped get the artists’ names buzzing in the community.

“We had fun creating the statue because we were able to create a stop motion video on the process, which was featured in the unveiling,” said Jack.

The Stomper statues will be on display through the 2018 baseball season and fans can sponsor a statue that they like and after the season, they have the option to keep the statue if they are selected. The Eastgate’s work is featured in different parts of Oakland. Their “Migration” mural is located on the corner of 2nd Street and MLK in the Jack London District along with different artwork in the Laurel District.