Connections of Public Art around South Los Angeles

Phase 1: The Site

The location I chose to analyze public artworks was Southern Los Angeles, because this is the area I was raised in and most familiar with. Every time I walk or drive here, I would always find a mural on almost every street. I would find a mural on stores, churches, schools, anywhere, so I decided to look at different murals around Southern Los Angeles, specifically near Crenshaw, Jefferson, and West Adams.

Phase 2: Field Work & Phase 3: Critical Analysis

The Crenshaw District has a very diverse cultural history, and is best known now as a growing African American community. During the 1940s, this area turned into more of a suburban location mainly associated with cars thanks to the Crenshaw Center. Later on, the Crenshaw Center was changed to what is known today as the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, which was one of the first regional shopping centers in the U.S. In the 1980s, Crenshaw became a massive center for the African American community, and became the "heart of black LA" because of the thriving community. There is a 700 foot long mural named the "Crenshaw Wall" that celebrates the black history as a whole, and culture of the African American community.

Starting from the left side of the mural, it represents the early stages of civilization, with nature, animals, the beginning of towns, etc. We see a bird flying in which appears to be a dove, representing peace. There are pyramids, elephants, lions, zebras, which can all be representing Africa.

Moving to the right, we start to see workers and the impact of slavery. We then see violence and wars caused by this.

On the far right of the mural, we see results of the African American community coming together, protesting, the Civil Rights Movement with Martin Luther King Jr. and who appears to be Malcolm X, then participating in sports, and living their lives how they want to live them.

The street next to the Crenshaw Wall has another mural that represents this community and lifestyle, including parents spending time with their kids and enjoying their hobbies. There are also cars, which represents the early stages of this location and how cars impacted Crenshaw.

And to the left of the Crenshaw Wall is a school, with a mural of black kids with the word "RISE". The girl is facing forwards with a serious face, the boy on the left is looking upwards, and the two kids at the bottom are smiling together, with a fist in the air. The kid looking upwards can symbolize that he is looking forward, to the future, with his head held high. That is a very powerful, inspiring, and important message to have for a school.

The next location is Jefferson, and there is a school named "Mid-City's Prescott School of Enriched Sciences" that has a very large mural near the sidewalk of the school.

Starting from the far left, we see the title of the mural, “The Children of Mid-City School” by Rozzell Sykes. The mural was made possible by the Cultural Affairs Department. The mural shows the diversity among the school and city of Los Angeles, representing the community of people with many different skin tones. If you start from the left, everyone is gathered near the city, but moving farther to the right everyone starts to spread apart. This represents the community within the “mid-city”. The majority of the mural uses a cool, almost dark blue because it is for the sky, but then transitions into a red, purple sky when moving far from the city and into the mountains. But then we go back to the blue at the right end of the mural, where it includes the name and artist of the mural on a light blue color, just like the beginning on the left side.

The next location is West Adams, and there are a lot of murals that represent the African American and Latino community. There is one mural that stood out to me, and it was this very colorful mural with a dove.

The mural uses so many different shapes and colors that helps it stand out from the pleasing blue background. There are hands that are releasing a dove, with the dove being a symbol of peace and love. There is also writing on the left side that reads "Bring peace to your community". 

What all of these murals have in common is that they show communities coming together. Los Angeles is a massively diverse city, and the black community is one of the largest. The Crenshaw District and Jefferson having an extensive history and having a predominantly black community makes the representation of these murals mean so much more. The West Adams mural with the dove helps bring everything together because that mural represents coming together as a whole. It could be just a small community, or a large community, or the entire South Los Angeles area.

Phase 4: Proposal

With how big and diverse the South Los Angeles community is, I had an idea of combining each community into one big mural, like the Crenshaw Wall. The Crenshaw Wall told a story of African American history, my idea would be to have each section of this new mural have important figures and events for each community in South Los Angeles. Yes there are many, many small communities here, but I think that's what would make this mural incredibly special. The Crenshaw District is known as the "heart of black LA", the Mid-City school's mural included many diverse people, and the mural on West Adams' message said "Bring peace to your community". I think incorporating all the communities in South Los Angeles as a whole (and if not all then most) would be a love letter to this entire area and bring everyone together. While looking for these murals for this blog post I saw homelessness, people struggling, dirty areas, trash, stray cats, closed businesses, all over these 3 locations. But that's not what South Los Angeles is about. It's about finding who you are, working hard, being able to thrive with others that will help you. These 3 murals represent that very well, and I think a new mural that includes multiple communities would also help show that message to others. For where this mural could be, I was thinking near USC. That is a very busy area and I believe it would stand out significantly because it is near a college. The diversity of South Los Angeles is massive, and every community should come together to feel as if we belong here.