Return to top of Newsletter

Lynn Aldrich, "Blue Line Oasis," mosaic, detail views of wall and bench, Metro Blue Line Artesia Station, 1996.

This initiates a new column that spotlights the latest murals appearing in the Los Angeles area. If we don't get new pages added immediately to the Murals Index, be patient, we'll get around to it. Look for links that may go to pages we have newly minted on the mural and/or the artist.

All you mural artists out there, if you want your public to know what you've been doing lately, please send the information, along with a picture if possible, to Robin Dunitz, PO Box 64668, Los Angeles 90064. Or you can call 310 470-8864.

Those appearing towards the end of 1996:

"Overcoming Barriers," various artists. Located at Fashion and Parade Streets, Long Beach.	"Hometown Traditions," by Don Gray (of Flagstaff, Arizona). Located at Main St. and Pine St., El Segundo.
"The Aerospace Mural," by Scott Bloomfield. Located at Main St. and Mariposa , El Segundo.	"Laurel and Hardy," by Francois Bardol. Located at Main St. near Venice Blvd. (rear parking lot), Culver City.
"Blue Line Oasis," mosaic, by Lynn Aldrich. Located in the MetroRail Blue Line Artesia Station.	Six murals by Elliott Pinkney. Located at Lee Elementary School, Long Beach.
Six murals by Elliott Pinkney. Located at Woodcrest School, Los Angeles.	A mural honoring Latino culture and history, by Judy Baca. Located at Topping Student Center, on the campus of the University of Southern California.

The following interview is based on phone interviews with Nancy Cobb of the El Segundo Chamber of Commerce Mural Committee and artist Scott Bloomfield.

RD: How did the El Segundo Chamber of Commerce get interested in sponsoring murals?

NC: We were trying to pull together aspects of downtown revitalization that weren't going to require public funds because at that point (1995) we weren't getting any. We got this idea of doing a Heritage Walk with benches and flowers. . .and seven murals. We felt that to revitalize the downtown economy, we first needed to revitalize community pride. The murals are a key component of this re-establishment of community pride. We really started getting excited about murals when someone on the Committee went to Chemainus (the Canadian mural town) and brought back the book they published of their murals.

RD: How did your group become knowledgeable about murals and their sponsorship?

NC: I made a visit to 29 Palms, and they spent a whole day with me--before we started, explaining what they had done, and how they got community involvement. Also I talked on the phone several times with Gene Stevens in Lompoc. I haven't been up to see those, but some other members of our committee have. The public art instructors at USC met with us. I called the coordinatiors of the public art programs in Venice (SPARC) and Long Beach (Parks Dept) to ask them questions. I think we learned a lot talking to all those people.

RD: What murals have been completed so far?

NC: All the Heritage Walk murals are along Main Street. The easiest way to see them is to get out and park at Main and Mariposa. The Aerospace Mural by Scott Bloomfield is very near that corner (on the Masonic Hall). At the corner of Main and Pine is Don Gray's Hometown Traditions. Handprint Alley is in the 300 block of Main between the Bank of America and the jewelry store. Handprint Alley was a community mural and a fundraising effort. The next murals are at the corner of Main and Franklin. An American flag mural is in progress on the post office. Across the street is the Dunescape by Scott Bloomfield and the Standard Oil Refinery by Dan Sawatzky (of Chemainus). This last mural shows the establishment of the refinery, which is why we have a town here. Standard Oil built the town and named it El Segundo because it was the second refinery town the company built. This was our first official mural, and it was completed in October, 1995.

RD: What murals are upcoming?

NC: At the moment Northrop-Grumman has hired an artist who was previously their head illustrator. He is putting together the design for an aviation mural. It will focus on planes that were built in El Segundo around the time of World War II. The number of murals we want to do has dramatically increased. We'd like to have 24 by the year 2000. We have a committee working on The Sports Heroes of El Segundo. They've been working for months just making the selection of who's going to be portrayed.. The other one we plan to finish in 1997 will be a pet mural by a local artist. It will be a fundraiser. People will pay to have their pet painted.

RD: When did you do your first public mural?

SB: About three or four years ago I was approached by Jay of JB Fine Arts. He asked me if I would be interested in doing a painting on his wall. It was his daughter's idea to paint the endangered El Segundo Blue Butterfly. It's at the corner of El Segundo Blvd. and Standard. It's not an official mural in the Heritage Walk project.

RD: Describe the Aerospace Mural you are completing right now.

SB: At Hughes Corporation I've been an illustrator for 13 years. Mike Armstrong, president of Hughes, gave the nod to the company sponsoring the already planned aerospace mural. I wanted it to be as much my image as I could make it, but I took input from Hughes, the Mural Committee and the Masons. A portrait of Howard Hughes became the starting point. I had used a Wright Brothers image a couple of times previously. I found a photograph of Amelia Earhart in which she has a poignant expression on her face. I was attracted to those three images first without knowing why. After some internal questioning, I think my image is a view of Heaven. It's people who have no limitation in scale. The aerospace part is about getting to the heavens. I hope the mural will be as fun as any Disneyland ride for the minute and a half when you walk up and look at it. It's a feeling I've expressed when I've walked up to a wall.

Final Note: MCLA's August mural tour will include a visit to El Segundo, where a local docent will take us along Heritage Walk.