Torrance sketches out plan to save mural

Daily Breeze - February 7, 2002

By Jasmine Lee

In a continuing effort to save downtown mural, Torrance is looking for a way to preserve public art without spending taxpayer dollars. The City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to apply for a J. Paul Getty Trust grant, which could pay for part of the estimated $5,700 needed to clean up and protect the painting of the state building at 1220 Engracia Ave. To qualify for the "Preserve L.A." grant - which aims to preserve buildings and sites of architectural, historical and cultural significance - Torrance must come up with some matching funds. Instead of dipping into city coffers, the city will try to join with nonprofit art groups to seek donations. "We're going to need some money, if you will," Mayor Dee Hardison said. The future of the Torrance mural come into question last year when the Employment Development department proposed renovating the property in a way that could destroy the mural. The remodeling plans have been scrapped, but the agency now has plans to move out of the building in a couple of years. The 1978 work by well-known California muralist Kent Twitchell, "Six L.A. Artists," depicts six of the painter's contemporaries, all fellow graduates of the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles. Some of Twitchell's work include the L.A. Marathon Mural" along the San Diego (405) Freeway in Inglewood and the "Harbor Freeway Overture" on the Citicorp Plaza parking structure. The artist, who lives in Northern California, supports the city's efforts to restore his work. The mural is in relatively good shape, but needs to have grime removed and protective coating applied. By law, muralists must be notified of any planned changes to their work. The city has obtained permission from the state to work on the mural, so once the funding is in place, the restoration can begin. A mural team assembled by the mayor has proposed a springtime fund-raising in the parking lot next to the mural.

City hopes to paint bright future for mural

Daily Breeze - August 28, 2001

By Jasmine Lee

The city has contacted Nathan Zakheim, an internationally known mural conservator, to conduct the restoration work on Twitchell's mural. Using a new technique, he can "pretty much guarantee that the mural will not fall apart for 100, 200 years." The challenge, he said, will be discovering the origins of a clear substance that coats the wall. No one - not the city, the state or the artist - knows who applied the glaze. Zakheim said he would like to figure out what the coating is so he can determine how best to treat it. Properly preserving the mural will ensure that the public will continue to enjoy the art, he said. "The problem, of course, is that people don't protect what they have when they have it," he said.