MCLA NEWSLETTER

ROMERO, TWITCHELL PRINTS TO HELP
SAVE IMPORTANT OLYMPIC MURALS

Frank Romero, "Going to the Olympics"

MCLA's Mural Rescue Program embraces close to two-dozen important murals. Periodically the financial burden or technical demands of properly maintaining one of these makes it too much of a stretch for us to do everything necessary to rescue a mural from oblivion. Two such cases were created as part of one of the most significant mural projects ever created in L.A., the Olympic Mural Project along the Harbor (110) and Hollywood (101) freeways in the downtown area, originally done in 1984.  The two are Kent Twitchell's Seventh Street Altapiece, damaged and partially hidden due to recent freeway retrofitting; and Frank Romero's Going to the Olympics, which has not only suffered a recent excess of graffiti tags, but the original color has faded badly. The work requires a repainting from the ground up. Twitchell's needs to be removed and placed in a new location to reassert it's full aesthetic force. Both artists, working with MCLA, have agreed to create original limited edition serigraphs that will be sold in order to collect the unusually large amount of money required to save each. Each image will pay homage to the mural that they will support. Thus, Romero's Kent Twitchell, "7th Street Altarpiece" (west wall)

four-foot-wide version of cars and hearts is a single horizontal image, while Twitchell's diptych mural of artists Lita Albuquerque and Jim Morphesis will be matched by a pair of prints. Production of both artists' editions is scheduled for the summer, but advance purchase of both is available. All three prints will be produced in editions of 100, with pricing tentatively set at $1,200 each. Discounting will be extended to MCLA members, and there will also be price reductions for pre-release purchases, and purchase of two or more prints. Twitchell plans to work on his serigraphs with printmaker Jeff Wasserman, Romero with Victor Santoyo. The cost of purchases of the prints made from MCLA will also qualify for a charitable tax deduction within IRS rules. With revenue raised from its print editions, Twitchell's Altarpiece will be removed from its present location at the 7th Street underpass of the Harbor (110) Freeway and relocated a mile north to the Alpine Ave. underpass of the same freeway. Romero will completely repaint the original Going to the Olympics mural at it's present location. Bill Lasarow   Kent Twitchell, "7th Street Altarpiece" (east wall)

NEW MURALS

The following new murals were completed through February. If you want your public to know about your newest mural, 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. Elliot Pinkney, "Evolution of the Spirit," L.A. Southwest College Library (exterior), 1600 West Imperial Highway (between Western and Normandie), South Los Angeles. Sponsored by L.A. Southwest Community College Foundation, L.A. Southwest College (LASC) Associated Student Organization, Fox Hills Mall Scholarship Fund, LASC Academic Senate. Created to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the school. Theme is the arts in education. Cindy Scheckel with fifth grade class from Madison Elementary School, "How We Came to the Fifth World," Ashtabula St. and Los Robles Ave., Pasadena. Done as part of the city's graffiti abatement program. Two hundred feet long. The image is based on an ancient myth that suggests we live in the "5th world" because earlier worlds were destroyed by natural disasters: fire, wind, flood and famine. ManOne, Vyal, Kofie, Sacred and others, Untitled spraycan masterpiece, behind Studio 9, facing parking lot, Gower and Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood.

Elliot Pinkney, "Evolution of the Spirit," mural at L.A. Southwest College, Los Angeles, 1997. ManOne, VyAl, Kofie and Sacred, "Untitled," mural at Gower and Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood, 1997.

Judith Baca with the Digital Lab at SPARC, "History of the Ahmanson Theatre," Mark Taper Forum Annex, Temple and Grand Ave., Downtown Los Angeles. Joins similar mural featuring highlights from plays that make up the history of the Mark Taper Forum. Annie Sperling, "Thai Floating Market," Racha Restaurant (exterior), 850 N. Vermont Ave. (at Normal), East Hollywood. Eight hundred square feet. Depicts an aerial view of produce vendors on small boats. Carlos Chavez-Andonegui and Richard Valdes, "The Community Through the Eyes of a Child," Buchanan Street School, 5024 Buchanan St. (at North Avenue 50), Highland Park. Ceramic Tiles, 42 panes, each 19 x 23". Inspired by the work of Barcelona architect Antonio Gaudi, this whimsical broken-tile mural is a scene of the neightborhood with children playing among animals, plants and buildings. Arthur Mortimer, "Santa Monica Beach," Santa Monica Public Parking Structure #1, 1234 4th St., Santa Monica. Dimensions, 40 x 140'. A montage of scenes of life on the beach in Santa Monica. Mortimer was assisted by Andrea Reti, Carlos Rittner, and Ernesto de la Loza (see picture on page 6).