Burbank to Uncloak Partly Veiled Mural

A 1943 mural at Burbank City Hall depicting democracy and freedom will be seen in its entirety today for the first time in 30 years when workers remove a dropped ceiling obscuring part of the work by noted artist Hugo Ballin.

The late Ballin’s creations grace the walls of several landmark Los Angeles buildings, including the Griffith Observatory, Wilshire Boulevard Temple and County-USC Medical Center.

The mural hanging in the Burbank City Council chambers, titled “Four Freedoms,” contains four large figures representing the freedoms outlined in the Atlantic Charter signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill: freedom of speech and religion and freedom from want and fear.

“I’ve been here 16 years, and this will be the first time I’ve ever seen it,” City Manager Robert “Bud” Ovrom said. “This is something we’ve been wanting to do for at least 10 years.”

The top of the mural was covered during renovations in the early 1970s, essentially “decapitating” the four figures.

Even before the dropped ceiling was installed, the mural had been concealed from public view for eight years by drapes, because the painting with 51 main figures was thought to draw too much attention away from council proceedings.

According to Burbank folklore, past mayors disliked the mural because a donkey in the painting was situated directly behind the mayor’s seat. When the mayor stood, the ears of a jackass appeared to grow from his head.

Mary Jane Strickland, founder of the Burbank Historical Society, said, “When Charlie Compton was mayor [in 1962 and 1963], he swore that it made it look like the donkey’s ears were his. He didn’t like that.”

Strickland described Ballin’s work as “very powerful, in-your-face art.” The mural was commissioned for City Hall during World War II, and people at the time thought it was a “terrible extravagance,” she said.

Strickland, 76, said she is one of many “old-timers” in Burbank today who remember seeing the entire mural.

Ovrom said the city will spend about $300,000 to renovate the council chambers, with about $40,000 going to cleaning and restoring “Four Freedoms.”

“There were times when the council had the political will to do this, but didn’t have the money. When we had the money, we didn’t have the political will,” Ovrom said.

“Last year when this project was approved, we finally had both.”

A second Ballin mural, titled “Burbank Industry,” hangs in the lobby at City Hall.

The bottom third of the mural was cut off in the early 1960s to install a doorway to an adjacent building. Ovrom said the mural-- including the bottom portion found badly damaged in a basement--will be restored.

“Four Freedoms” will be available for public viewing when renovations to council chambers are completed in August, Ovrom said.

The following Ballin murals also can be seen in Los Angeles:

* “The Treaty of Cahuenga,” 1931, Title Guarantee Building at 411 W. 5th St.

* “The Apotheosis of Power,” 1930, One Bunker Hill (formerly the Edison Building).

* “The March of Science Through the Ages,” 1935, Griffith Park Observatory interior rotunda.

* Warner Memorial Murals, 1929, Wilshire Boulevard Temple sanctuary.

* Untitled fresco depicting Aesculapius, the god of healing, and his two sons, 1932, County-USC Medical Center foyer domed ceiling.