Crew Works to Undo Vandalism : Tossing a Protective Coat on 2 Olympic Murals

It has taken more than a little time, working between rainstorms, but Jay Beswick and his friends may have finally protected from vandalism two of the Harbor Freeway murals painted to help celebrate the 1984 Olympic Games.

Beswick, an employee of a South-Central Los Angeles firm that sells and applies an anti-graffiti product, has been spearheading an attempt to clean up and protect the murals, which have been left as orphans of a sort by the artist who painted them.

One of the two murals has been damaged maliciously 14 times since it was completed in early 1984, by vandals who tossed jars of paint up against it.

However, Beswick may now have that problem fixed.

Working partially on his own time on weekends and partially on time paid for by his employer, Beswick has applied six layers of a clear polyurethane protective shield to the murals, “Spectators” (the far more frequent target) and “James.”

Beswick and his company, Textured Coatings of America, did the work for free--initially for the promotional benefit the company hoped to obtain during the Olympics.

But now, said Beswick, he is doing it out of concern that Caltrans, which has ultimate say over the murals, might decide to simply sandblast or paint over the murals.

‘Art Will Be Lost’

There is also a principle involved:

“If it (‘Spectators’) is removed due to repeated defacement, it’ll mean whoever has thrown the jars of paint has won and one man’s art will be lost and the vandals will find a new target to remove by intimidation,” he said.

“Spectators” and “James,” both on freeway underpasses near Adams Boulevard, are the work of muralist Richard Wyatt. The two murals portray men--black and white, Asian and Hispanic--gazing outward while gymnasts perform in the background.

Commissioned by the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee as part of its arts festival, the murals are among 12 on the Harbor and Santa Ana freeways near downtown. Robert Goodell, Caltrans’ art and citizen participation coordinator, said the two are the only ones to have suffered major vandalism.

Goodell isn’t sure why someone is picking on Wyatt’s work, but he and Beswick both suspect it may be because Wyatt portrays minorities. “I’m guessing that somebody has a sort of philosophical difference with what’s up there,” Goodell said.

Beswick agreed, saying, “It’s always the Oriental guy or the Chicano guy who gets hit.”

Wyatt could not be reached for comment.

Alonzo Davis, the muralist who coordinated the works for the local Olympic committee, doesn’t claim to know for sure, but suspects, “It may be someone in the arts community who has a conflict with that particular artist (Wyatt).”

Artist Gave Up

Wyatt is responsible for maintaining the murals. He tried, but ultimately surrendered to the continuing attacks, Beswick and Goodell said.

“After being hit so many times, he’s given up and I can’t blame him,” Beswick said.

Goodell agrees. “He (Wyatt) has a family to support and he has other projects going.” Caltrans can’t be of much help, Goodell said. “We can’t spend Caltrans money to maintain it, but, as a last resort, we can paint it over.”

Nobody wants it to come to that.

“We’re hoping that this time we’ve got enough layers (of the protective film) on to keep the glass from the jars of paint from breaking the film and ruining the paint,” Beswick said.

And, said Goodell, “We might be able to convince him (Wyatt) to come back and touch it up. Some of us like to think we’re not going to let these people defeat us.”