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By Olin Ericksen
Staff Writer
May 29 -- Captive on a concrete wall of a surf shop
in the heart of what used to be known as "Dog-Town"
because of its grit, a delicate, 30-year-old mural reflecting
spirits of Santa Monica's past goes everywhere with Jane Golden.
Now over 50 and the director of Philadelphia's prestigious
Mural Arts Program, Golden was a fresh-faced 21-year-old when
she first stood on the corner of Main Street and Ocean Park
Boulevard in 1977, painting her first public artwork, absorbing
the California sun and the vibe of a neighborhood in the midst
of social change.
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| Like the spirits it
evokes, the mural is quickly vanishing. (Photos by Olin
Ericksen) |
"I fell in love with that mural," Golden, who is
now a nationally renowned artist, said in a phone interview
from Philadelphia. "It was my very first mural, and without
it, I would never have gone on to preserve the thousands of
other murals I have worked on since."
However, the years, especially recently, have not been kind
to the artwork depicting faceless figures walking the long-vanished
Ocean Park Pier during the 1920s.
"It's really sad to hear about the state it's fallen
into," said Golden, who receives reports on its well
being from friends and family.
Protected by nothing more than copyright laws, because it
is public art on private property, and with no funds proffered
by the City under local policy, the artwork has become a favorite
canvass for graffiti taggers, even as the streets around it
are brimming with new high-end apartments and pricey boutiques.
The situation has deteriorated so much
that in recent weeks, an unknown renegade artist from
the neighborhood has taken the palate into his or her
own hands and been illegally touching up the mural,
after several of the figures had been erased entirely
by tagging.
"My first thought is that I feel good that someone
feels strongly enough to go through and try and restore
the painting," said Golden. "Part of me feels
that it's very thoughtful."
The person, however, is reportedly adding in a few
original strokes.
The nation's first President, George Washington, can
be seen prominently dropping in on a wave, fundamentally
changing the artwork for the first time in three decades.
If the additions continue, Golden fears they could
ultimately damage the underlying mural forever.
"Despite their intentions, I firmly believe that
any changes that are made should be made with the permission
of the artist, and it should go through a public process,"
she said.
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On the corner of the most heavily traveled intersection in
Ocean Park – a beachside neighborhood that was home
in the late 1970s to countless artists and activists –
the mural saga is making waves.
"There is a mystery person doing something to the mural,"
said Mikke Pierson, a co-owner of ZJ Boarding House, which
has been leasing a storefront in the building with the mural
since 1988.
Unfortunately, Pierson said and he and his business partners
are the ones taking the heat for the condition of the painting
and the illegal additions.
"We are hearing from a lot from people in the neighborhood
who are angry about it," said Pierson. "We've been
getting letters, some of them really nasty without any names
attached."
Although not emotionally attached to the work -- which some
find "creepy" because of the faceless figures --
Pierson is angered by the graffiti, which spills over into
his business and which he calls "tragic."
"It's definitely bummed out the local community,"
he said, adding that numerous individuals have offered to
help clean up the vandalism. "It's a bad scene."
While Pierson said he contacted the City to ask for help
restoring the painting, he was told he would need to seek
permission of the artist first, and more importantly, find
the funding.
"They were telling me that it would cost between $20,000
and $30,000 to restore to painting," he said. "That's
a lot of bars of surf wax."
The reported landlord, who Pierson thinks is in her nineties
and lives in south Los Angeles County, has not been very active
in the management of the building, he said.
"I've only talked to the building owner once in ten
years," he said.
Pierson, who currently subleases his shop, passed along the
name of the main lease-holder to a City official two months
ago, but has never heard back.
While sympathetic to the situation, Jessica Cusick, the Santa
Monica's Community and Cultural Affairs Manager, said the
City has a strict policy of only protecting and funding artwork
on public buildings.
"That particular mural is on private property, so there's
really not that much we can do about it," said Cusick.
"We have to respect property rights of owners."
If it were on a public structure -- as is the case with the
whale and carousel horses depicted in a mural by Daniel Alonzo
on the nearby Fourth Street underpass -- it would receive
regular touch-ups and even graffiti-proof paint, she said.
Restoring the mural, which covers both sides of the embankment,
reportedly cost the City $60,000, and the work was being sabotaged
by taggers even as the project was underway.
While the City is adhering to its policy, which is not shared
by some other cities, including Philadelphia, Cusick said
she sympathizes with the outpouring of concern for the state
of the artwork.
"We've heard from many in the community interested in
helping restore and keep that mural intact," she said.
"In a perfect world… it would be protected."
The ongoing destruction of the mural comes at a time when
the City has been investing in beautification projects and,
especially, anti-graffiti campaigns.
In a press conference with reporters to unveil the 2007-2008
fiscal budget, City Manager Lamont Ewell hailed the Santa
Monica’s effort to curb vandalism.
Cusick said protecting the mural, which is on a premier corner
of Santa Monica, may well fall in line with the overall philosophy
of keeping the City clean.
"We do care how the city looks," she said. "This
is on a prominent corner."
For Golden, the issue is an emotional one, since that corner
represents a crossroads in her decision to embark on the artist's
path.
"I remember people passing by as I was painting and
people talking about politics and community concerns,”
she said. “I think I took all that and put it into that
mural,"
Despite her emotional connection, Golden said she is not
against waiving her copyright and changing the mural, as long
as it is the community has a say.
"I have no problem with it changing," she said.
What's more Golden said she would personally lead a cross-country
expedition of mural restoration artists currently employed
by Philadelphia and donate their time, if Santa Monica will
pick up their travel and lodging costs which would likely
run well below $20,000.
"I speak for several artists who would be willing to
come back out there,” she said. "Philadelphia has
contracted with a number of cities to protect both public
and private murals."
However, City officials have so far politely declined her
invitation.
"It's not like I don't think it would be a very valid
use of funds, but it is a difficult precedent to set toward
protecting private artwork," said Cusick, who first became
aware of the issue when she came to the City three years ago.
There are other murals on private walls in Santa Monica,
although Golden’s mural is the worst off.
Moreover, the problem of murals being defaced or destroyed
is a regional one.
With an unknown number of murals in Los Angeles on private
buildings, perhaps hundreds, many have fallen into disrepair
after City funding was cut off in 2002 for such prominent
artist groups as the Social and Public Art Resource Center,
which first commissioned Golden's mural, Cusick said.
Still there may be some wiggle room in the local policy,
she suggested.
"I don't see it as a City responsibility," said
Cusick, "but a partnership, maybe."
For such a partnership to move forward, the building owner
should first contact the City, Cusick said. However, since
the family is largely in absentia, cleaning up the painting
remains at crossroads.
While understanding Santa Monica’s policy, Golden said
the City could take a different approach.
"With all due respect to the City and their policy,
it seems the surf shop just doesn't have the funds its sounds
like to undertake the upkeep," she said. "In Philadelphia,
we do whatever we can to save, restore or do another mural."
If the chosen course is to repaint a different mural, it
could cost considerably less than the $20,000 to $30,000 price
tag for restoration, Cusick said.
If it came to that, Golden said she and her team would do
it for free, for art's sake.
Like the ghostly spirits Golden evoked in the painting, if
something is not done soon, the mural itself could vanish,
or worse, turn into the last vestige of blighted grittiness
in a cleaned up Main Street in a neighborhood once called
Dog-Town.
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