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Public Hearing for First Street Store Mural Wall Set

First Street Store Mural concept drawing: Berliner and Associates.

“Story of our Struggle” is moving forward under the watch of the Chicano/Jewish Coalition. Often known as the First Street Store Mural, it makes a final step toward it's preservation as a Community Revitalization Project, according to Irma Beserra Núñez, coalition chair. The idea behind the rehabbed First Street Store Mural Wall, which will be called the Quetzalcoatl Pyramid Fountain and Educational Plaza, comes from a coalition press release.

 

Following a stringent Mural Preservation Plan, the entire Mural Wall will be moved back ten feet as the facade of the new charter high school.  This will create an approximately 3,200 sq. ft. Educational Plaza in front of the building for students, the community, and tourists to gather, enjoy a more comfortable view of the Mural Panels, and gain an appreciation of community culture and history.  Educational plaques will be placed below each Mural Panel describing the meaning in English and Spanish.

A Quetzalcoatl Pyramid Fountain will be constructed with a seating area around the Pond.  In addition, there will be benches to sit and relax while viewing the mural, fountain and plaza.  Lighting will be provided for each Mural Panel, the plaques, fountain and plaza to make it possible for everyone to enjoy, night and day, this exciting Chicano/Jewish Cultural Heritage Landmark.

 

The mural was to be taken down by Pacific Charter School Development to make room for a new building.  After protests, portions of the mural were to be saved. Then through terse advocacy, the mural and facade is intact and will be part of the Alliance Media Arts & Entertainment Design High School.

The public hearing is set for 9 a.m. Wednesday, May 22, in Room 150 at the L.A. County Hall of Records (320 West Temple Street).

East Los Angeles Mural's Struggle is Over I KCET [view]

BID Dissolution Begins Trash Talk

Los Angeles River Artist and Business Association will hold a special meeting at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 8, for locals to bring ideas to the table.

It's the first mess to be cleaned up.

With the ruling that the Arts District Business Improvement Association must dissolve within 75 days, the first thing to end was maintenance services. It began with the sign on the Arts District dog park implying it was closed, when in fact BID were ending their service of opening and closing the park, plus scooping after pups. Then trashcans were immediately taken off the streets.

Comments from locals have been flying around with fury, sharply divided between those who came after, and those who came before, the BID was established.

Some say the RID THE BID had no contingency plan, and for now the only immediate resolution is clean it up yourself, as a dedicated neighborhood volunteer that is.  There is also the logic that ADBID may not have had a lawsuit directed at them if they did not include property owners  -- who resisted being under ADBID's jurisdiction -- during a 2011 expansion.

Community Meeting via LARABA [view]

If you are not up to speed:

Judge Orders BID to Dissolve via DTNews [view]

Private security pull out of downtown Arts District via LATimes [view]

BID Pimpin' via CurbedLA [view]

King of Los Angeles Street Walking the Walk

"You know it baby!' is all the caption De Perez needed for this image she captured in the Fashion District this morning. The Phantom Gallery curator De Perez saw him walking at the corner of at Los Angeles and Eighth street, walking with mission. It's downtown stylin' and you can't keep a man with a crown, down.

Photo: De Perez

 

Downtown Vid Pic: " Downtown Los Angeles Then & Now "

Downtown Los Angeles Then & Now - Part 2 (2013) Dir: nicolewonders

YouTube user nicolewonder found the 1946 night time footage of Downtown Los Angeles and matched the route with new footage. It makes an interesting look at two eras. The mash-up is in three parts, and the original source is below.

Part 1 [view]

Part 3 [view]

Original 35mm via Internet Archive [view]

Downtown Fatburger Opens

Gone are the days that had you take the Metro Red Line to the Vermont/Sunset station to reach a Fatburger. The popular burger brand is back in downtown Los Angles, and held a grand opening Wednesday. And it’s not just a midday meal option. Fatburger is open 24 hours.

The modernized interior of Fatburger Downtown LA has electronic menus and a touchscreen soda fountain, but still hints of the California burger stand aesthetic, similar to Original Tommy's and In-N-Out. 

"Iconic Vision" of John Parkinson

A biography of John Parkinson by Stephen Gee has been out since early May, and it’s "the first book to detail, in words and images, this master architect's incredible contribution to Los Angeles." With City Hall, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Bullock's Wilshire, Union Station, the architect and his firm gave the city a look that has become a cultural reference.

"His buildings are an essential part of Los Angeles. City Hall is still the hub of political power in the city," Stephen Gee told KCRW earlier this month. "There are thousands of people who live and work in Parkinson’s buildings. Union Station is still a tremendously important train station on the west coast. These structures are just as important now as the day that they opened."

A documentary on Parkinson is also planned. Donations are being sought.

Iconic Vision: John Parkinson, Architect of Los Angeles [view]

Some of Parkinson's earlier buildings may not have the cultural visibility of City Hall. You can see that in a dedicated list by German photography Martin Schall, who stalked Arts District gems like the Spreckel Bros. Warehouse and the Joannes Bros. Building.

You-Are-Here I Parkinson [view]

KCET Post: Muralist Ruben Soto

Another mural is restored. Photo courtesy Ruben Soto.

In Ruben Soto's Restored Echo Park Mural, the "Eyes" Have It  [view]

Dog Park bark

Photo posted by Scot Ezzell at Los Angeles Downtown Arts District Facebook page.

 

This sign at the Arts District dog park has more bark then bite.

The big buzz in the last few days is the Arts District Business Improvement District is under a court order to dissolve. "A court determined that a small portion of the Arts District BID’s operations, restricted to its economic development efforts, did not comply with a technical aspect of the law governing Business Improvement District," wrote Estela Lopez, Executive Director, in an email.

Lopez adds it is not known when the last official day of the ADBID will be. However, services will end immediately it seems, including trash pickup.

This is where the dog park comes in. The community project is headed by LARABA, but the ADBID was guardian of opening and closing the park, plus cleanup. The sign implies the dog park is closing, but the Arts District tribe has been discussing new operation procedure since this photo was posted at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The victor in the court battle has posted an announcement. RidTheBid [view]

END OF BARK ADD 11:35 p.m.: "We have the key," wrote Ezzell. "I think the big question is who is gonna remove the poop?"

Downtown Vid Pic: "Downtown Los Angeles at Night"

 Fatburger in the 80s

Andrew Park poked around and found this video VFaL posted in 2007 and it's close to his heart. If you recall "Broadway in the 80’s," YouTube user Meadowlawn stuck his Zenith camcorder out the window andshot the street on VHS-C tape while being driven northbound. It's now an archive of what shops and stores were around. One place was Fatburger. "It's back in historic downtown!" says Park, who had a sincere excitement about finding this clip. It gives me the chance to trot out this favorite and make it an official Downtown Vid Pic.

As for Fatburger, the Grand Opening Celebration is Wed, May 15, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 888 S. Figueroa Street.  The first 100 visitors get a Fatburger T-shirt and a medium drink with any purchase.

 

 

Downtown Los Angeles at Night (1988) Dir: Meadowlawn

Arts District Keeps Rolling Along

Urban über coolness under construction in the Arts District. Above, One Santa Fe moves forward. Below, the SCI-Arc League of Shadows is a weave of beams.








One Santa Fe I Michael Maltzan Architecture [view]

SCI-Arc Arts District Anchor Project I Art Place America [view]

One Santa Fe photos via Helen Ly / vfal. League of Shadows by Scot Ezzell.

Artists Bloc II Backstory at KCET

Photo by Sandy Rodriguez

Guest Editorial at KCET has Sandy Rodriguez write about the artists, including herself, who worked on the interior mural at The América Tropical Interpretive Center. view [KCET}

Major Tom Revisited: "Space Oddity" cover beamed from Space

 

Cmdr Hadfield and guitar say goodbye in this rendition of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” which is likely to be the first music video using space as a location. "With deference to the genius of David Bowie, here is Space Oddity, recorded on Station," he tweeted. "A last glimpse of the World."

David Bowie tweeted back "Hallo spaceboy".

"Ground control to Major Tom, lock your Soyuz hatch and put your helmet on," sings Hadfield.

"Typewriter (In the 21st Century)" At Downtown Independent

Orson Welles' Underwood Standard Portable was displayed opening night of "Typewriter (In the 21st Century)". May 10.

By Helen Ly

VFaL contributor.

 As a child in the early 90s, my family couldn't afford a computer, but we had a typewriter. I remember my older brother typing his homework and the sound of metal keys being struck while the carriage ring at the end of a sentence would echo through the room.  It was that sensory experience which fascinated me most about the typewriter. 

Today, it's rare to see this antiquated machinery sitting on a desk. The idea of someone using the typewriter often correlates with the question "Why?"