Work has finally begun to recreate the mural that once covered the wall along Marmion Way leading up to the Southwest Museum.
The first step – creating detailed, life sized drawings of the original mural – got underway in January, when Pola Lopez, the renowned artist who will paint the new mural, received a first installment of money to get started.
The drawings will be based on pictures of the original mural, painted in 2004 by local artist Daniel Cervantes and whitewashed in 2016 after years of damage by graffiti. Ms. Lopez told the Boulevard Sentinel that the drawings will take about a month to complete and that painting can begin after that as soon as the weather is warm enough.The schedule is for the mural to be done by the end of the year.
The money for the mural is from a fund totaling $26,000 in contributions from the City of Los Angeles, community groups and other donors. Fundraising began in 2015. The contract to do the work was signed in mid-2018 by the Autry Museum of the American West, which owns the Southwest Museum, Avenue 50 Studio in Highland Park, which has been responsible for safekeeping of the money raised for the restoration, and Ms. Lopez.
“It has taken a long time,” said Ms. Lopez. “But here we go.”
You can follow the progress on the mural on Facebook @Pola.Lopez.58 and on Instagram at #Swmmural
