We have just finished the painting restoration of the realistic mural entitled Jim Morphesis Monument, painting by Kent Twitchell in 1984. It is part of a group of 11 murals that were painted along the downtown LA freeways to celebrate the 1984 Olympics and deeded to the City of LA as public art to build pride and community spirit. Here’s the short video of the very interesting steps to restore it:
One of the gratifying aspects of this project was the successful cooperation between The Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles, the original artist, Caltrans, Public Works, the art conservation community and the professional conservation/restoration services of FACL, Inc. Here are the team members:
Virginia Panizzon (FACL), Kent Twitchell(Artist), Scott Haskins (FACL), Isabel Rojas-Williams (MCLA), Vincent Moreno (Caltrans), Diane Stevenett (FACL)
This video shows very interesting art restoration – painting conservation steps to recover and reclaim this landmark mural from the 1984 Olympics located in downtown Los Angeles.
This was the 1st of 11 Olympic murals to be reclaimed from graffiti and from Caltans’ gray paint. All murals are scheduled for overpaint removal, cleaning and restoration in collaboration with the artists. The goal is to return to Los Angeles this high quality public art gifted in 1984.
The funds required for the mural restoration were provided by private donations and The Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles. Generous cooperation from Caltrans was much appreciated.
Art conservation treatment questions? Call Scott Haskins 213 620 9125
11 thoughts on “Art Conservation of Exquisite Mural on Los Angeles Freeway Completed”
Scott M. Haskins
This morning early I got a call from Vincent Moreno, Caltrans Supervisor that has been helping us on the mural. ( picture in your mind the voice of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), “Dude, you got creamed!”
Seems that our newly completed job on this mural of Jim Morphesis was rudely covered across the entire lower half with a tag this last weekend. Well, we are on it!
Tomorrow morning we’ll take the tag off! Stay tuned… I’ll post a photo for you to see. Honk as you drive by if you love us!
December 19, 2011James Whaley
Its great to see this mural again. It’ll get tagged again but I suppose you will be hired to keep the graffiti off?
December 23, 2011Scott M. Haskins
As you probably noticed, it was tagged a few days after we finished. And 24 hours after we found out, we were removing the graffiti. Please let others know about the videos at http://www.savefreewaymurals.com so they can know the “inside scoop.”
December 23, 2011Melanie Lesh
Thanks for letting us know the inside information about this mural. In our office we’ve been talking about the progress you make on it. Please keep the graffiti off after you get it done. I suppose you know that it will get tagged again? Even non expert people in art know it will get tagged again.
December 23, 2011Scott M. Haskins
Melanie, it got tagged a few days after we finished and 24 hours after we found out, we were back “on the wall” to remove the graffiti. Its part of the overall service and strategy. Thanks for your support. Pass it around for people to visit our website at http://www.savefreewaymurals.com
December 23, 2011Larry Constance
Great cause Scott. I like those LA Murals on the 101and some on the 5 freeway. I drove past them for 26 years. The murals have been through a lot. Best wishes for success in defending them against the vandals.
December 24, 2011cleaning service los angeles
Indeed a nice post and I really like the manner you have written and explained the cleaning services. I am also a veteran cleaning expert and adapted to reading a lot of informational stuff on the web. I just subscribed to your blog and hope you will keep the good postings up.
December 30, 2011Nancy Coulter
Thanks for being a part of this restoration team and doing this fine work. Keeping the graffiti is going to be a chore?
January 10, 2012Scott M. Haskins
The tagging will subside once the vandals know we mean business, someone gets caught, we install the video cameras… and then they move on to easier conquests.
January 10, 2012Amanda Salezian
Wonderful issues and murals… you just received a new reader. Keep up the good work with keeping the graffiti off the murals!
January 11, 2012Ann Genrich
Keep up the good work. Its made me happy to see you keeping the graffiti off the mural!
January 12, 2012Comments are closed.