Arts & Entertainment

Next Phase of Judy Baca Mural Restoration Set to Commence

The mural's original creative team will lead the process.

The in the restoration of Judy Baca's famous History of Highland Park mural located at former AT&T Building at Ave. 56 and Meridian St. will begin next Tuesday, said Carlos Rogel, project manager with the Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC).

For nearly a decade, the community had pleaded for somebody to step and restore the 33-year-old mural, which had been ravaged by years of graffitti tagging.

Finally, though the intervention of Councilmember Jose Huizar's office, AT&T agreed to pay $78,000 to fund the mural's restoration.

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In late January, members of SPARC, Baca and Highland Park residents came together to kick off the restoration with equal doses of celebrating and power cleaning.

Rogel said that in addition to coordinating the restoration effort, SPARC will be speaking to students in nearby schools and going door to door around the neighborhood to encourage volunteers to participate in the restoration effort.

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"We want the youth to get involved and have the opportunity to work alongside these great artists and to feel some ownership of the mural, which we feel will prevent future vandalism," Rogel said.

The repainting effort will be conducted by the mural's original artistic team, which includes Baca, Sonya Fe, who now lives in northern California, Arnold Ramirez, of southern Los Angeles and Highland Park resident Joe Bravo.

Asked how SPARC was able to reunite the team of muralists, Rogel said simply: "What can I say, muralist stick together."

The will be working from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday for the next eight weeks, with the projects completion date scheduled for the end of May.

Rogel said volunteers are encouraged to come out and participate in the repainting effort on Saturdays.

In addition to repainting the mural, Rogel told Highland Park-Mount Washington Patch that the wall will be treated with a state of the art anti-graffiti coating developed at the UCLA/SPARC Cesar Chavez Digital Mural Lab, as well chemical solution that consolidates every layer of mural paint into a single, strong layer that will not fade after multiple cleanings.

These efforts are being taken to ensure that SPARC won't have to ever coordinate another cleaning of the the Baca Mural.


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