Up Against a Wall

Much like the struggles and hardships depicted on a mural spanning half a mile in the Tujunga Wash flood control channel, an organization of artists that spent seven years painting the expansive “Great Wall of Los Angeles” is entrenched in its own battle.

Faced with watching their work peel, crack and fade, the artists must find funding to restore the weather-beaten mural or possibly lose what many consider a cultural landmark.

“Not restoring the wall would be a continuation of the images in the mural,” said Judith Baca, the artist who conceived the artwork deemed the longest in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records. “How we maintain this wall will determine how we will deal with the future of our city. This is about preserving the energy of all the people who contributed to this project and the stories told in the mural.”

The mural is painted along a stretch of the flood control channel between Burbank Boulevard and Oxnard Street, parallel to Coldwater Canyon Avenue.

Progress, Setbacks Chronicled

Baca, 53, was employed by the city Recreation and Parks Department in the early 1970s when city officials supported her artistic blueprint for murals relevant to the neighborhoods they represent.

In 1976, she founded the Social and Public Art Resource Center, a nonprofit agency devoted to community-based artwork. She designed the “Great Wall,” which borders Valley College in Valley Glen, the same year and turned more than 250 juvenile offenders with a creative edge into painters to help with the project.

Over the next several years, the concrete channel’s west wall was transformed into a large-scale history book, artistically detailing the city’s founding and the progress and setbacks of ethnic groups from the late 1700s to the 1950s.

Included are the zoot-suit riots in 1943 and and Hollywood’s blacklisting in the ‘50s.

Recognizing the mural as a Los Angeles monument, the City Council earlier this month directed several public agencies to work with the city Cultural Affairs Department to secure funds for its restoration and report to the council within 30 days.

“This is a significant piece of the city’s history that lies in the Valley,” said Councilman Alex Padilla. “Just like our streets, it’s easier to preserve something when you maintain it. We want to ensure that the wall is preserved for future generations.”

It will cost about $500,000 to restore the artwork and add viewing stations along an adjacent walkway, Baca said.

Although the mural appears to be in good shape, deep fissures beneath the surface of some of the oldest panels could cause large sections to break off, Baca said.

The Social and Public Art Resource Center has twice applied, unsuccessfully, for county Proposition A park money to restore the “Great Wall” mural. The organization’s Neighborhood Pride program, which designs and paints murals citywide, has received allocations from the city in the past for other mural projects, but that funding has decreased in recent years, Baca said. In 1988, the group received more than $400,000 and in 1999, the program got $189,000, she said.

A five-member panel appointed last year by the Cultural Affairs Department was asked to assess public murals and recommend which need immediate attention. The panel plans to select 10 murals to share a $200,000 conservation grant.

Private Donations May Be Sought

Michael Several, a historian and preservationist working with the panel, said while the group agrees that the “Great Wall” mural is important, its sheer size could consume the entire grant.

“If it’s going to be done professionally, it’s going to cost a lot of money,” he said.

Adolfo Nodal, general manager of the Cultural Affairs Department, said it is unlikely the city would pay for the entire restoration, adding that private donations could be sought to cover the remaining amount.

“This is the perfect project to tie private and public funding together,” Nodal said. “This is going to be a massive project and the funding is going to have to come from different sources.”

The “Great Wall” mural was a community project and should stay that way, said Baca, who refuses to let anyone but social art center members and youths in its Neighborhood Pride program work on the mural.

“I’d rather see it torn down, before I let that happen,” she said.

The mural is a major part of the city’s cultural canvas, a community treasure that should be cherished, she said.

“There have been a lot of young people who gave their summers to help us out,” she said. “It was an experience that transformed their lives.”

One of those people is Marie Sandoval, 47, an employee of the Los Angeles County Probation Department. She was 23 when she learned about the mural. Working with inner-city kids at the time, Sandoval was amazed at the effect it had on them.

“We took a lot of pride in our work,” she said. “I remember finishing up the first panel, looking behind me and seeing all these people watching us. It was quite an accomplishment.”

Preservation Is Priority

Sandoval said she plans to bring a 16-year-old girl who is a tagger to social art center offices in Venice Beach next month in hopes that the teenager will put her artistic talent to better use, perhaps even helping with the “Great Wall” mural restoration.

Baca said she hopes the social art center will receive funding by next year, in time to mark the organization’s 25th anniversary. She and other members also talk about updating the mural’s timeline to the 21st century.

But, the first order of business is to preserve what has been done, Baca said. “It’s hard these days to see programs that affect people in positive ways. This project was one of those rare moments that happened and whose legacy should remain.”