restoration of L.A.'s freeway murals getting underway    

Lasarow's MCLA is working with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department (LACAD), and the California Arts Council (CAC) to restore and protect the murals. The State of California last year provided Caltrans with $1.7 million for the project, which is gets into full swing over the Summer, with the first 11 artworks prioritized according to merit by a panel of State, local and private art experts brought together by LACAD. The 11 artworks include: '7th Street Altarpiece', at the Harbor (110) Freeway at 7th Street, by Kent Twitchell. 'Hitting the Wall', at the Harbor (110) Freeway at 4th Street, by Judith Baca. "Olympic Series/Eye on '84," at the Harbor (110) Freeway at the 3rd Street onramp, by Alonzo Davis. L.A. Freeway Kids, at the Hollywood (101) Freeway at Los Angeles Street, by Glenna Avila. "Struggles of the World," at the Hollywood (101) Freeway at Alameda Street, by Willie Herron III. The L.A. Marathon Mural, at the San Diego (405) Freeway at Manchester, also by Twitchell. Reach Out, at the Santa Monica (10) Freeway at the La Brea Ave. underpass, by Joseph Sims and Alonzo Davis. I Know Who I Am, at the Glendale (2) Freeway at Glendale Blvd., by Ruben Brucelyn. Underwater Fantasy, at the San Diego (405) Freeway at the Nordhoff Ave. underpass, by Michelle Obregon. Cityscape, at the Harbor (110) Freeway and Wilshire Blvd., by Terry Schoonhoven. Galileo, Jupiter, Apollo, at the Hollywood (101) Freeway at Broadway by John Wehrle. Some cleaning and restoration work has already been completed. Frank Romero recently repainted his 'Going to the Olympics' mural on the Hollywood Freeway thanks to support from the L.A. Amateur Athletic Foundation. Conservator Nathan Zakheim oversaw cleaning and restoration work on freeway murals located on exterior walls by Judith Von Euer, Ruben Brucelyn, Michelle Obregon, Ernesto de la Loza, and Annie Sperling over the last several months, thanks to a contract providing seed money last year from the CAC. However, excepting the Romero mural, the current group represents the first located on the inner, traffic facing freeway walls. Thus, they are not only rated as the top quality freeway murals, they are among the most visible murals in the Southland. According to Lasarow, each mural poses its own set of conservation challenges, depending on the surface and the medium chosen by the artist. Kent Twitchell's '7th Street Altarpiece,' actually a pair of interrelated murals, was aesthetically diminished by retrofitting work that by filling in columns (now walls) isolated the two. They will be removed and repaired in a studio, then remounted at a new location yet to be decided upon. John Wehrle's Galileo, Jupiter, Apollo was executed using a special keim paint, which is very stable, but did not accept early sacrificial coating because colors would be altered. Removing graffiti from the uncoated paint surface represents a special challenge. In some cases the conservation teams will work directly with the original artist, who will be repainting areas of their mural when necessary. Retaining as much as possible of the original work is a priority, but even more important is that each restoration is planned alongside steps intended to, if not eliminate, significantly reduce each work's vulnerability to graffiti and wear. The employment of the latest materials and techniques, application of current sacrificial coating products, and ongoing vigilance are designed to enable efficient and cost effective extension of the life of each mural. The work on these murals will be carried out by conservators Nathan Zakheim, of Nathan Zakheim Associates, and Donna Williams, of Williams Art Conservation. This round of restoration is expected to take the better part of a year to be completed; then a new round of restorations will get underway. Says Lasarow, The approach everyone has agreed on is to emphasize the quality of the restoration work, and the longevity of the result. No one wants to remove existing graffiti only to leave these artworks vulnerable to another round of vandalism. We have recognized the importance of putting a long term strategy in place from the beginning. I believe that we have a blueprint that will prove successful. Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles t. 323.512.5697, f. 323.512.8200 E-mail, mailto:mcla@lamurals.org Web site, http://www.lamurals.org