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L.A.'s NEWEST MURALS COLUMN

compiled by Robin Dunitz

The following new murals were completed through October, 2001. 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 5483, Sherman Oaks, CA 91413.
Or you can call (818) 487-0416

June Edmonds, Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky, Algin Sutton Recreation Center, pool house, 8800 Hoover Street (at Manchester), South Los Angeles, 1999. Venetian Glass Mosaic.
The mural is based on an ancient West African story explaining the presence of the sun and the moon in the sky.

Herbert Guerra (student at Cal State Northridge) with five students from Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, Untitled (ROTC-Themed), Highland
High School ROTC bungalow, Palmdale, 2000. Jet fighter in flight bordered by a golden eagle on one side, and the ROTC bulldog patch on the other.

Pedro Pelayo, Using Your Imagination, Westmont Community Center, exterior, 1808 West Ninth Street , Pomona, 2000. Acrylic on stucco.
Using his own children as well as regulars at the park as models, the artist shows people reading, playing sports and flying. In the center, to obscure distracting windows, he's painted an ethereal pet heaven.

Pedro Pelayo, assisted by Vincent Saucedo, Reaching for the Stars, Washington Park Community Center, exterior, 865 East Grand Avenue (at Towne Ave.), Pomona, 2000.
Acrylic on stucco. A local homeboy, thinking about his future, is surrounded by positive imagery--of the Virgin Mary, a graduating student, plus sports and music at the park.

Pedro Pelayo, "Using Your Imagination" (detail), 1808 West Ninth Street, Pomona, 2000.



Pedro Pelayo, "Using Your Imagination" (detail), 1808 West Ninth Street, Pomona, 2000.

Artist(s) unknown, Walls of Reflection, Wilbur Avenue Elementary School, 5213 Crebs Avenue, Tarzana, 2000. Sponsored by Wilbur's Booster Club with funding from the L.A. Board of Public Works and ICI Dulux/Sinclair Paint in Tarzana.
Includes 13 murals on outdoor walls and basketball backboards as part of revitalization of the school. Paintings with inspirational messages, such as "soar," "aim high," and "imagine" against a background of sky and mountains. Multicolored handprints adorn some of them.

Herbert Guerra (student at Cal State Northridge) with five students from Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, Untitled (ROTC-Themed), Highland High School ROTC bungalow, Palmdale, 2000.
Jet fighter in flight bordered by a golden eagle on one side, and the ROTC bulldog patch on the other.

Designed by Elizabeth Eve, painted by Riley Forsythe of Walldogs and Elizabeth Eve, Meeting of Minds, Mercado la Paloma, 3655 Hope Street (near 36th Street) (mural on Hope St.), Los Angeles, 2000. Acrylic, 121' x 30'.
An outdoor marketplace seamlessly combines images from marketplaces around the world and combines ideas from the last millenium through to the present and looking forward into the future.



Roland Miller and David Burke,
"Symphony in Diffused Palette," mural,
151 W. 30th St., Los Angeles, 2000.
Roland Miller and David Burke, Symphony in Diffused Palette, John Adams Middle School, 151 West 30th Street (mural on playground facing Broadway), Los Angeles, 2000. Sponsored by Hollywood Beautification.
Large, jazz-themed mural.

Ernesto de la Loza, Tapestry of the Millenium, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), exterior 1521 Wilshire Boulevard (between Union and Valencia), Mid-city L.A., 2000. Acrylic.

Barbara Gesshel, This Land Was Made for You and Me, 93rd Street Elementary School, exterior schoolyard, 330 East 93rd Street (at San Pedro Street), South Los Angeles, 2000. Acrylic on stucco, 3 panels, 13' x 70'.
Illustration of Woody Guthrie's anthem, "This Land is Your Land."

Eloy Torrez, no title given, South Central Animal Shelter, exterior and interior, 3612 11th Avenue (at 36th Street), South Los Angeles, 2000. Acrylic, 2 exterior panels and one interior panel. Sponsored by the L.A. Cultural Affairs Dept. for the Public Works Improvement Arts Program on behalf of the Dept. of Animal Regulations.
Scenes of people taking care of pets.


Barbara Gesshel, "This Land Was Made for
You and Me, 93rd Street Elementary School,
exterior schoolyard, 330 East 93rd Street (at
San Pedro Street), South Los Angeles, 2000.

Elliott Pinkney, Adventures in Learning, Agnes Elementary School, Agnes Street at Ernestine Avenue, Lynwood, 2000.

James Hamblin with Jim Piper and Matthew Whittmer, Untitled, Pantages Theatre, stage door VIP entrance, Hollywood Boulevard at Argyle, Hollywood, 2000.
Theatergoers outside the Pantages in 1930. Donors, such as Carol Burnett and Doris Roberts, were used as some of the mural's models.



Ernesto de la Loza, "Carnaval," mural,
Silverlake Blvd. at the 101 Freeway
underpass, Silverlake, 2000.



Annie Sperling, "Ghosts of Silverlake,"
Silverlake Boulevard at the 101 underpass,
west facing (north end), Silverlake, 2000.
Michael Wright supervising 4th and 5th grade students from West Hollywood Elementary School, Untitled (Landscape), San Vicente Boulevard just south of Hammond Street, West Hollywood, 2000. Funded by the California Dept. of Health Services and the US. Dept. of Agriculture, under the auspices of Performing Tree and Healthy West Hollywood.
The mural depicts a wizard (the school's mascot), the food group pyramid, a river and the Golden State Freeway stretch known as "The Grapevine."

Elliott Pinkney, Community Involvement, Youth Opportunity Center, 4th and Long Beach Boulevard, Long Beach, 2000. Acrylic.

Ernesto de la Loza, Carnaval, Silverlake Boulevard at the 101 underpass, east facing (south end), Silverlake, 2000. Acrylic on concrete. One of eight panels to be completed by various artists at this underpass as part of a project called Gateway to Silverlake 2000.

Annie Sperling, Ghosts of Silverlake, Silverlake Boulevard at the 101 underpass, west facing (north end), Silverlake, 2000. Acrylic on concrete. Part of Gateway to Silverlake 2000.

Outside of Los Angeles County

Rebecca Guzak, Justice Through Time, San Bernardino County Courthouse, Foothill and Haven, Rancho Cucamonga, 1991. 6' x 95'.

Claudia Fernety, The Children's Mural: Peace Through Education, Eleanor Roosevelt Global Classroom, interior 2 panels, United Nations Building, Balboa Park, San Diego, 2000.
The theme of the mural is the United Nations and educating children. The female figure in the left panel symbolizes the UN. The banner being carried by 2 doves above her head contain the first words of the Preamble of the UN's Charter. Among the children in the right panel is a young Eleanor Roosevelt, the first United States Ambassador to the United Nations.


Claudia Fernety, "The Children's Mural:
Peace Through Education," Eleanor
Roosevelt Global Classroom, interior one of
two panels, United Nations Building,
Balboa Park, San Diego, 2000.



John Pugh, "Valentine's Day," Crossroads
Christian Bookstore, exterior, Adobe
Road at Gorgonia, Twentynine Palms, 2000
 John Pugh, Valentine's Day, Crossroads Christian Bookstore, exterior, Adobe Road at Gorgonia, Twentynine Palms, 2000. 15' x 50'.
Ostensibly the subject is cattle rustling in the Hidden Valley area of Joshua Tree National Park, where the McHaney gang rebranded cattle for resale. However, the historical theme is not the only subject. Another story being told is about what happened to an artist while he was sleeping on the job. And yet a third portrays the mural creation process itself. While the artist is dreaming about "Cattle Days," a rodeo bull named Valentine is morphed into 3-D reality next to the scaffolding. The mural has been intentionally left unfinished.


TURNOVER MARKS NEW ERA AT L.A. CULTURAL AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT

The imminent departure of General Manager Adolfo Nodal from the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department is the most significant among a flurry of departures and staff juggling that will at least mean a lot of new faces for the local art community to get to know.

For the last dozen years Cultural Affairs has not only been a regular and consistent supporter of the Mural Conservancy’s mission, it has reflected Nodal’s energetic advocacy of artists’ interests and the intersection of the arts in the general community.

The scope and size of the department’s grant program was significantly expanded early in Nodal’s tenure (during the Tom Bradley administration at City Hall) to enable funding of a greater variety of non-profit organizations than had previously been possible. Individual artist grants also became a feature that has remained, thanks in part to Nodal’s unwavering support for them even as national events led to their elimination at the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). More recently organizational grants were divided into two categories to better account for the funding of smaller organizations that previously had to compete directly against much larger ones.

Among the staff changes of greatest interest to MCLA’s supporters, Joe Smoke has moved from his position managing the Cultural and Regional Grants Program to manage the City’s Youth Arts and Education Division. Smoke was a very available, responsive and sympathetic partner throughout his tenure, and will be missed. Replacing him is Arleen Chikami.

--Bill Lasarow


ROMERO FREEWAY MURAL PROGRESS

Yes, “Going to the Olympics” is on its way back. When we first reported on the re-commissioning of the mural by the Los Angeles Amateur Athletic Foundations (LAAAF) six months back it was thought the newly minted version of the mural would be completed before the end of the year. However, more preparation work on the wall was required than originally anticipated--not to mention the simple logistics of the always busy artist.

After careful inspection, it was decided that the entire lower portion of the mural would have to be water-blasted back to the bare wall, which would also have to receive a treatment of muriatic acid. Finally a fresh application of sizing had to be applied before fresh paint goes on. At we go to press the wall preparation has been completed. The new image may be taking shape--at long last--even as you read this Newsletter.


MURALS PROTECTED BY
 MCLA'S MURAL RESCUE PROGRAM

Mark Bowerman, "Running", Hollywood Freeway at the Western Ave. bus turnout.
East Los Streetscapers, "El Corrido de Boyle Heights", East L.A. at Soto St. and Brooklyn Ave.
Kent Twitchell, "Seventh Street Altarpiece: Jim Morphesis", Harbor Freeway, 7th St. underpass.
Kent Twitchell, "Seventh Street Altarpiece: Lita Albuquerque", Harbor Freeway, 7th St. underpass.
Chicana Center Artists, "Tree of Knowledge", East L.A. at Brooklyn and Hazard.
Frank Romero, "Going to the Olympics", Hollywood Freeway west of Alameda St. underpass.
Alonzo Davis, "Eye on '84", Harbor Freeway, at 3rd St. ramp.
Margaret Garcia, "Two Blue Whales", Venice at 12901 Venice Bl.
David Botello, "Read Between the Lines", East L.A. at Olympic Blvd. and Ford.
Kent Twitchell, "Strother Martin", East Hollywood at Kingsley Dr. and Fountain Ave.
Noa Bornstein, "Magritte in Los Angeles", Inglewood at Imperial Hwy and La Cienega Blvd.
Judith von Euer, "Flow Inversion", 100 N. Fremont, east facing outer wall of the Harbor Freeway at First St.
Annie Sperling, "Mural for Peace", Silverlake at Hyperion St. and Sunset Blvd.
Russell Carlton, "Heavenly Garden of Knowlege", Santa Monica Freeway west of the National Blvd. exit.
Thomas Suriya, "You Are the Star", downtown Hollywood on Wilcox, south of Hollywood Blvd.
John Wehrle, "Galileo, Jupiter, Apollo", downtown L.A., on the Hollywood Freeway slot, at Spring St.
Rip Cronk, "Venice Reconstituted", Venice, 25 Windward Ave.
Mario Torero, Rocky, El Lton and Zade, "We Are Not a Minority", East L.A. at 3217 E. Olympic Blvd.
Wayne Healy, "Ghosts of the Barrio", Ramona Gardens, East L.A. at Building 2731-37 Lancaster Ave. near Murchison.
Rueben Brucelyn, “Eyes”, Glendale Blvd. at the Sunset Blvd. underpass, Echo Park.
Ernesto de la Loza, “Ressurection of the Green Planet”, Boyle Heights, 2242 Avenida Cesar Chavez (at Breed St.).

MCLA'S MURAL RESCUE PROGRAM

If you are an artist who has created a public mural, or if you know and love a public mural that needs protection, the Mural Rescue Program provides important services for a select group of murals based on the following criteria:
• Aesthetic merit • Geographic and cultural diversity
• Feasibility • Public Access
To order an application call or write the Mural Conservancy:
(818) 487-0416, PO Box 5483, Sherman Oaks, CA 91413-5483

Or, print out a form directly from our Web site: http://www.lamurals.org