Mural Restoration Expert Appointed by City of Los Angeles | Fine Art Conservation Laboratories (FACL, Inc.)

Public Art Division – Dept. of Cultural Affairs

City of Los Angeles Art Collection Appoints

Fine Art Conservation Laboratories

as Painting and Mural Restoration and Public Art Conservation Experts

The art conservation, art restoration and maintenance of murals and public art for the City of Los Angeles has been a privilege that we feel deeply over the years at Fine Art Conservation Laboratories (FACL). It feels good to offer socially conscious professional services to our community that help preserve art, history and heritage for generations into the future.

Graffiti removal from this mural (located close to Hollywood and Vine) was contracted to FACL with the recommendation of the mural’s artist Thomas Suriya

Recently, FACL was chosen as the painting art conservation experts (paintings, mural preservation and restoration) for the City of Los Angeles’ newly formed Dept. of Cultural Affairs. We were awarded a 3 year contract (2017 – 2020 ) and then had the contract renewed (2021 – 2024). In partnership, FACL is working with premier and nationally renown art handlers, COOKE’S CRATING AND FINE ART TRANSPORTATION, INC.

Graffiti removal from this mural (located close to Hollywood and Vine) was contracted to FACL with the recommendation of the mural’s artist Thomas Suriya

This contract with the City of Los Angeles is similar to a previous public art maintenance painting and mural conservation and restoration gig that FACL and Cookes Crating had with the City through the now defunct Arts Commission.

Consultations and estimates are provided throughout the City for planning and budgeting. Some of the major murals that have been treated are Blue Moon Trilogy by the Hollywood Bowl and several murals along the Chandler Corridor by different artists.

Fine Art Conservation Laboratories is also presently providing the same art restoration oversight for the public art in the collections of the Federal Reserve (Los Angeles, Phoenix), The City of Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada), the History Dept of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (SLC, UT). See here the background info for FACL’s past consultation services.

In the past, Caltrans also took an active part in addressing the protection and maintenance of public art celebrating the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics murals along the downtown freeway. Freeway mural God-Father Vince Moreno of Caltrans made a hero’s effort to make that happen during his time in office. Scott M. Haskins, Head of Conservation at FACL, worked with Mr. Moreno to diffuse a series of law suits that were going to involve the State of California, The City of Los Angeles, Caltrans and several individuals. The work in question was to work with living artists of murals to satisfactorily remove graffiti and gray Caltrans paint to recover and preserve the murals from being obliterated. The first test case, which was successful and diffused the litigation, was the mural by Kent Twitchell of the Jim Morphesis Monument on the 101 freeway.

Mural before graffiti removal in 2011. See video of graffiti removal mural restoration

Scott M. Haskins, Mural Conservator and Kent Twitchell, Mural Artist have since collaborated on several other projects of his art to apply an anti-graffiti layers on his new murals such as this mural of Ed Ruscha (see video below), which replaces the mural that was painted out by the US Dept of Labor many years ago. Its been a long time comin’.