Mount Washington Mural Art Presented to Homeowners Alliance

The yellow walls of the Carlin G. Smith Recreation Center usually host crayoned drawings by pint-sized Picassos.  On Monday night, though, the front wall of the vintage building was filled with intricate and sophisticated art, including a huge, multi-hued buffalo and a playful, shaggy, barefooted creature.

The images, all created by University of Southern California Fine Art graduate Zack Christensen, were part of a presentation that Christensen, Robert Sipchen and Antonio Villaraigosa Jr. gave at the well-attended September meeting of the Mount Washington Homeowners Alliance. 

The young men, who have been around Mount Washington, explained that they are trying to garner community support for a mural in memory of their childhood friend Jack Rohman, who took his own life earlier this year after a long battle with schizophrenia.

Christensen explained that he brought some of the images to the meeting to represent his artistic style while other images would potentially be incorporated into the mural.

Proposed Site of Mural Bordered by SRF Land

The artists are proposing to paint the mural along the length of a concrete bulkhead below Mount Washington Drive between Canyon Vista Drive and San Rafael Drive.  The bulkhead is owned by the City of Los Angeles; the land above and below the bulkhead is owned by the .  

Christensen produced a map showing the perimeters of the SRF’s property and its proximity to the bulkhead (available for download from the media box to the right).

Mural Would Be a “Flowing Narrative,” Not Isolated Images

The young men explained that unlike the previous summer, when the three of them, along with Rohman and other friends, created temporary guerilla art installations consisting of single, isolated images affixed on the bulkhead with wheat paste, the new installation would be permanent and site-specific, covering all of the concrete and using all of the panels as part of a “flowing narrative with a beginning and an end point.” 

One meeting attendee asked how many panels the bulkhead had.  “Fifty-two panels of varying size,” answered Christensen.  His response produced a responsive murmur from the crowd.

Another attendee asked which of the guerrilla images were Rohman’s and whether they would be recreated in the mural.  Christensen said they had decided against trying to recreate Rohman’s images.  Linda Kallan, artist and Professor of Art at East Los Angeles College, voiced her approval of the decision.

Christensen indicated that perhaps they might utilize their friend’s pixelated style, which he’d been experimenting with at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY.

“So [the mural] will be metaphorical,” clarified someone in the crowd. Christensen confirmed.

Art Professor Suggests Mural Would Provide Art Education Opportunity

Rob Corsini, from asked if there was any way that students from the school might be able to contribute images to the mural.   Christensen hesitated before responding that even though the mural was public art, it was intensely personal because of Jack.   Someone suggested that perhaps the kids might be able to help paint the mural.

Kallan pointed out that whether or not schoolchildren assisted in the actual painting, the mural would provide excellent field trip opportunities.  Students could walk to the mural, watch the artists and discuss the artistic process.  Because of budget cuts, Kallan added, arts education field trips have been significantly curtailed along with free museum days.  Consequently, some Los Angeles students' only exposure to art is the city's wealth of murals.

Mural Could Reduce Tagging

Villaraigosa suggested that the bulkhead was less likely to attract tagging if there was art on it and that when last summer’s guerrilla installations were up, there was no tagging on the bulkhead. 

Even if the mural was vandalized, he said, the art would be protected by a special coating and the tagging would easily wipe off.  A crowd member asked about maintenance.  Christensen responded that he and the other artists would be responsible for the maintenance and that they “weren’t going anywhere.”

The artists also reiterated that they were at the very beginning of a long process.

Alliance VP Mehringer Offers Counter-Arguments, Survey

The question and answer period was ended by MWHA Vice President of Action Ruth Mehringer, who had invited the artists to make their presentation. 

Mehringer pointed out those Mount Washington residents could also call 311 for removal of tagging.   Mehringer also reported that she had contacted a mural expert who said that tagging on murals was actually a “major issue." The issue of the protective coating on the mural was not addressed. 

Mehringer added that she had also contacted the Self-Realization Fellowship to ask if the artists had approached the organization about the mural.  She was told that they had not.

Christensen, Sipchen and Villaraigosa were not given a chance to respond to Mehringer who then passed out sheets of “yes” or “no” “survey questions” prepared for the meeting.  Some of the questions were:

“Do you accept the concept of a mural on the Mt. Washington Drive bulkhead?”

“Do you believe murals prevent graffiti vandalism?”

“Do you think the bulkhead should be left as it is now?   (OR)

Would you prefer that drought tolerant vegetation be planted to obscure the concrete panels on the bulkhead?”

There was no “I don’t know” option.   Anonymity was an option for responders.