Date
1979
Location
Soto St. and 4th St., Boyle Heights
Shell Gas Station, exterior
Media Notes
Acrylic on cinder block, 6' x 20' (originally 200' long)
East Los Streetscapers made up of David Botello, Wayne Healy, George Yepes.
Description
Only a remnant remains. In this beginning section, two Mayas are depicted planting seeds alongside a jaguar spirit. The themes of the original mural were education and the uses of petroleum products. There were pre-historic and pre-Columbian scenes as well as more con- temporary images, such as Latin youth cruising in their low-rider cars.
After 180 feet of the wall was bulldozed in 1988, without notifying the artists, to expand a parking lot, the Streetscapers sued Shell Oil. The case set an important precedent in 1991 when the California appellate and supreme courts used it to rule that murals are protected under the California Art Preservation Act of 1980. Under that law owners of works of art are required to give artists 30 days notice to remove their creations before they are destroyed. In summer 1992 the Streetscapers reached a confidential out-of-court settlement with Shell just weeks before a trial was scheduled to begin.
Return to MCLA home page
Return to Mural Index