Happy Holidays from the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles!
We have had a very exciting year here at MCLA, we truly appreciate the efforts from all of our supporters! Our gift to our fellow Angeleno's this year is the restoration of the 101 Freeway Mural the "Jim Morphesis Monument."
It is with the continued help from the community that we will be able to finish the restoration of this historic and iconic part of Los Angeles history!
Events from November 2011
November 14, 2011: Jim Morphesis Monument Restoration Begins
“The Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles (MCLA) is pleased to announce that Scott Haskins and his firm, FACL, Inc. have begun the work of graffiti removal/abatement and restoration on the Jim Morphesis Monument (part of the7the Street Altarpiece diptych) by Kent Twitchell, originally painted as part of the 1984 Olympic celebration. It is located beneath the N. Grand Ave. overpass of the 101 Freeway.”
Read full press release:
Click Here
Photo Credit: FACL, Inc. *2011*
Photo Credit: Gil Ortiz *2011*
November 16, 2011: MCLA Kicks Off Fundraiser to Restore the Jim Morphesis Monument!
This L.A. icon has been enjoyed by thousands of residents and visitors to the city as they travel the 101 Freeway. Although this artwork has suffered extreme damage as a result of exposure to the elements, tagging, and neglect – its legacy can be preserved with your help! In order to ensure that this important restoration is completed, MCLA has created an opportunity for supporters of L.A.’s mural arts to contribute directly to this project through an online fundraiser. Please follow the link below to make your contribution today— your support of the MCLA makes this vital work possible and your generosity of anyamount is much appreciated. Together, we can reclaim the title: “Los Angeles: Mural Capital of the World”!
To make your donation, please log onto:
http://www.indiegogo.com/jimmorphesismonument
View photos of the restoration process: Click Here
MCLA hosts Community Updates on the Mural Ordinance (at Cactus Gallery & California African American Museum)
[Tanner Blackman (City Planning), Isabel Rojas-Williams (MCLA's E.D.), Sandra Mastroiannii (Cactus Gallery), and Tricia Robbins (CM Jose Huizar's Planning Deputy)
Photo Credit: José Ramírez-González, Jr.
On November 3rd, 2011 at Cactus Gallery in Eagle Rock;
On November 15th, 2011 MCLA hosted the informative gathering at the California African American Museum(CAAM),
On November 30th, 2011 MCLA’s directors Judithe Hernández, Willie Herrón III, Kent Twitchell, Ilia Anossov, and Isabel Rojas-Williams participated in a mural panel discussion held at Known Gallery in West Hollywood
Tanner Blackman (City Planning) & MCLA’s E.D. Isabel Rojas-Williams at CAAM
Photo Credit: José Ramírez-González, Jr.
Follow MCLA on Facebook to stay up to date with the Mural Ordinance developments:
November 12, 2011: MCLA and CICLE Team Up for Bike Mural Tour
The Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles (MCLA) and C.I.C.L.E. gathered a wonderful group of over 50 bikers and mural advocates to tour murals in the Downtown LA Arts District. A big thank-you to the sponsors of the Street Mural Ride after party: New Belgium Brewery, Gorilla Arts Studio, Big Man Bakes and Urban Noodle and DJ Alter!
Photo Credit: Isabel Rojas Williams
View photos from this event: Click Here
November 13, 2011, “Behind the Berlin Wall” unveiled, The Wende Museum and Archive of the Cold War
5900 Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles
MCLA’s Executive Director, Isabel Rojas-Williams was in attendance for the unveiling of “Behind the Berlin Wall” which represents the largest stretch of original Berlin Wall in the world outside of Germany. “The project brought together Herakut, the German-painting duo Jasmin Siddiqui from West Germany and Falk Lehmann from East Germany, Retna (Marquis Lewis ), the street artist from Los Angeles, and D*Face, the British multimedia artist Dean Stockton, who painted murals from left to right on the ‘east side’ of the original Berlin Wall - the side that faced the East German death zone.
Read more about “Behind the Berlin Wall”: Click Here
(L-R)Councilmember Tom LaBonge, Isabel Rojas-Williams, Executive Director of The Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles,
German artists Jasmin Siddiqui (Herakut), and Falk Lehmann (Herakut)
with Germany’s Consul General Wolfgang Drautz, Artworks by D•Face, Herakut, and Retna
November 19, 2011:MCLA's E.D. Isabel Rojas Williams invited to speak at LACMA Mural Tour with Willie Herrón III of ASCO, "Callejón Herrón”, City Terrace
Photo Credit: Isabel Rojas Williams
“What is a mural?” in the 1970s Willie Herrón and his cohorts already had their own idea of what a mural is; something that the City is still grappling to define. ASCO’s mural representations were distinctive versions and at once celebratory and critical of the genre.
Even though LACMA commissioned Willie Herrón to create "Asco: East of No West", a mural based on Harry Gamboa’s photograph of the1972 ASCO performance "Walking Mural", there can be no doubt that Willie’s creation of this mural was guided by his sheer love of the arts and of his neighborhood. City Terrace is where Willie Herrón lives and where he continues to create artworks that have become part of the fabric of greater Los Angeles. Willie Herrón, along with Patssi, Gronk, and Harry, were, in the 1970s, pioneers of what became a famous avant garde group. These young radicals as they walked through the streets of East Los Angeles as tableau vivants, dressed as La Virgen de Guadalupe, the Walking Mural, and a Christmas Tree, placed the name of East Los Angeles at the forefront of the Art World and helped positioned Los Angeles as one of the Mural Capitals of the World.
The Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles would like to recognize Willie Herrón and ASCO as one of the most important conceptual artists from East Los Angeles (by Isabel Rojas-Williams on occasion of the Asco Mural Tour by LACMA at “Callejón Herrón”.)
Photo Credit: Isabel Rojas Williams
