I drove out to Pacoima yesterday to see the Mural Mile that was being talked about on Take Two on KPCC public radio. The best way to get there is drive up Interstate 5 to the North East end of the San Fernando and exit on Van Nuys Blvd going East. Start looking for beautiful colorful murals on the fronts and sides of business. This largely Latino community, home of Richie Valens of the 1950's, has taken pride in their culture and their heritage. Artist Levi Ponce started this project a couple of years ago and engaged youth and neighbors to pitch in and help paint these murals by brush mostly on top of the rough stucco walls of businesses once marred by graffiti. Other artist have also created murals.
Here photos from the web are some of the Mural Mile art.
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| Levi Ponce age 27 with his Frida Kahlo |
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| Michelangelo's creations reproduced on the wall. |
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| A tribute to Richie Valens who died in a plane crash near Clear Lake Iowa with Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper |
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| Latina Lady Liberty with a heard of elephans, a bald eagle and an Aztec woman. Around her crown is the Emma Lazarus' famous poem that is on the base of the Statue of Liberty: "...Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" This a fitting poem to be remembered in these times. |
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| "Mona Lisa" with sombrero, dagger, gun, bullets becomes "La Adelita," a woman warrior from Mexican folk tale. |
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