Garvanza School Mural Needs Some Love

News about murals and business signs has been abundant in Highland Park recently, but one longstanding work of public art is in need of new life.

Located on a cement wall that runs alongside the playground at Garvanza Elementary School, the Daniel Cervantes mural depicts people at work and play set against a vibrant background.

Garvanza Elementary School teacher Marla Lefevre said that the mural was painted by Cervantes in 2004, with assistance from the Cesar Chavez Foundation, Hathaway-Sycamores and the L.A.'s Best after-school program.

For the first few years after it was painted, taggers stayed away from the new mural. Slowly but surely, though, graffiti accumulated. The tagging, along with the many attempts to clean it, have diminished the mural's original glory.

Lefevre would like to fix that, with an assist from the community.

Patch Asks: Do you know anyone who might be willing to volunteer for the job. Or, do you know of any groups that may be able to grant funds to help pay for a restoration?

She is hoping that a local muralist is willing to step forward and touch up Cervante's mural. She said she hasn't contacted Cervantes himself, though she said she'd be glad to have him back to repaint the mural as well.

The challenge, Lefevre said, is that the school doesn't have any money to pay for a restoration.

"We're really dealing with diminished resources," she said.

Lefevre said her motivation to restore the mural was sparked by recent Patch articles about newly painted business signs on York Boulevard.

"When I was reading that article, I thought maybe there was a local artist out there who might like to help us, too," she said.

The original version of this story identified the muralist as David Cervantes. His name is Daniel. We regret the error.