Mission Mural Dedicated at Medical Clinic

A 65-foot-long mural depicting the Carmel Mission was dedicated Friday by businessman Bert Boeckmann with a ceremonial assist from Daniel Ramos, the notorious ex-tagger known as Chaka before his recent conversion to a born-again Christian.

The colorful 12-foot-high mural that adorns the the side of Woodman Medical Clinic--now renamed Carmel Mission Clinic--is the work of Alfredo Diaz Flores. The project was supported by Boeckmann, owner-president of Galpin Ford.

Ramos and other youths unveiled the artwork by pulling a cover away from the mural located at 9068 Woodman Ave. south of Nordhoff Street.

Flores predicted that his depiction of the historic mission at Carmel will be safe from graffiti. “If it’s a good piece of work, it will be respected,” Flores said. Religious and historical murals are usually left alone by taggers in their own neighborhoods, he said.

“New Chaka,” as Ramos is now sometimes called, had no role in painting, but he might help Flores in a future project.

“If I have a chance to tutor Chaka and he gets good at it, there’s no telling what might be accomplished,” said Flores, 69, a retired grocer, pastor and veteran muralist.

Boeckmann, a prominent Republican and evangelical Christian member of Church on the Way, met Tuesday with the 22-year-old Ramos and his mentor, Pastor JoJo Sanchez of Lancaster. The ex-tagger enrolled in Youth Academy USA, Sanchez’s isolated desert camp for errant young men, eight months ago and is being groomed for a ministry talking to inner-city youth and demonstrating a positive use of paint.

“On future murals that Mr. Boeckmann may underwrite, he is very much considering having Chaka and youths from Youth Academy USA being involved in it,” said Marybeth Baker, public relations director for Galpin.

Another mural is proposed for a wall at the Foothill Division of the Los Angeles Police Department, but approval must be obtained first from the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs, Baker said.

“I’ve always felt strongly about making this a better place to live and work,” said Boeckmann, who backed beautification projects as founder of Valley Cultural Foundation and as chairman of Operation Sparkle, which focused on graffiti and litter removal.

Dr. Marc Stretten of the Woodman Medical Clinic, who donated the paint and scaffolding used by Flores, said the finished product was “a touch of beauty to an underserved and neglected area.”