MAKING A DIFFERENCE : One Organization’s Approach: Connect Communities With Their Murals

Los Angeles’ reputation as the world’s mural capital rests on the more than 1,000 public murals that grace city walls from the eastside to Venice, from San Pedro to the Valley. The murals are under constant threat from natural and human elements like sun, smog, graffiti and outright demolition. For more than 17 years an organization called the Social and Public Arts Resource Center has dedicated its work to community-based mural production and preservation in Los Angeles. SPARC offers mural tours, art workshops and programs to stimulate community participation in choosing and maintaining public art works and to provide employment opportunities for youth and artists. No murals produced by SPARC programs were damaged during the April-May 1992 civil unrest--a fact that art center officials use to underscore the powerful connections that can be generated between communities and their respective murals.

ONE PARTICIPANT’S EXPERIENCE

Yreina Cervantez, painter and muralist, Los Angeles.

I started working with SPARC programs in 1979 as a muralist’s apprentice. I got much of my muralist experience through SPARC because there were no other venues for mural art. SPARC is valuable because it was the first and one of the only organizations in the city to take the art of muralism seriously even though Los Angeles is the mural capital of the world.

One of the things I really like about the way the people at SPARC approach murals is that they make sure that there is an effort to attain equity and representation. They make an effort to reach and contact different communities so that you do have Chicanos, African-Americans, Asians, Anglos and women represented. It’s unique to find a consistent organizational committment to this kind of representation and SPARC does this.

As far as I’m concerned, one of the main functions of a mural is that it speaks to the community--first, that it represents that community and that there is input from that community and, if you’re designing that mural, you keep the integrity of what the community would like to express in that mural. It’s also important for artists to use their vision to be able to interpret what that community would like to see.

For the last mural I worked on, which was a collaborative work in the homeless community called “What I See Can Be Me,” I went to places like the Catholic workers’ kitchen and talked to people who worked with the homeless, those who were being served through the kitchen. I approached service organizations for the homeless like Las Familias del Pueblo. With this input I interpreted the ideas in my portion of the design. The section I developed is titled ‘A Raindrop Falls On My Lips’ and that title comes from song lyrics written by Lamont Joseph, a musician I met in the neighborhood.

Participation at different levels invests a community in a mural. If the mural is sincere to the needs of that community, then the community feels a connection with that mural. The mural is not just what’s left on the wall, it’s the process, contributions by many people.

It’s important to preserve murals. I don’t personally believe in painting over murals. It’s a real disrespect for the art and for the community that was there at one time. The history of a community is important and older murals in Los Angeles can help to acknowledge that history and what the changes in a community have been over time.

Programs and Resources

Great Walls Unlimited: Neighborhood Pride Program

Produces murals annually throughout the city--especially in areas with few or no murals. Coordinators consult with community groups, business owners and residents to select mural sites. Artists consult with community members to determine mural design and content. Paid youth assistants work on painting crews. Muralists include both locally and nationally recognized names as well as first-time wall artists. Since the project began in 1988, 56 murals employing more than 200 youth assistants have been painted citywide.

Mural Resource Center

Maintains an international catalogue open to the public of more than 16,000 slides on murals and public art--the world’s largest collection. Operates a citywide mural maintenance and damage report hot line. As part of its Mural Maintenance and Inventory program the center is compiling a computer database of the city’s murals for use in libraries and cultural centers.

Cultural Explainers

SPARC’s newest program is sponsoring construction of large-scale, movable sculptures created by neighborhood teams--including an artist, a multi-ethnic group of designers and a cross-section of people from each community. Teams determine sculpture siting, themes and imagery. Sculptures will be rotated between communities to foster inter-community dialogue.

TO GET INVOLVED

For information about SPARC’s Adopt-a-Mural program, volunteer or membership opportunities or details about the art center’s Jan. 16 mural tour call (310) 822-9560. To report damage to a mural call 1-800-95-MURAL.

A comprehensive guidebook, “Street Gallery: Guide to 1000 Los Angeles Murals” by Robin J. Dunitz, organizes the city’s murals by neighborhood and includes detailed street maps locating murals painted from 1913 to 1992. The book is available from the author at (310) 470-8864.

The Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles plans to publish a guide and map to more than 150 murals in the Los Angeles area this summer for less than $5. Call (213) 481-1186.