1Voice Summer 2019

‘Art-eologists’ Uncover Hidden
Layers Below Museum Mural
When Daniel Cervantes completed his homage
to indigenous people in 2004, there
was a golden moment for the 169-foot mural on
Marmion Way.
Cervantes’ mural has since suffered years of
harsh weather and damage. Graffiti eventually
covered the scenes, and abatement crews whitewashed
the wall, which is property of the Autry Museum,
which owns the Southwest Museum campus.
NELA art lovers rallied to restore the mural.
Supporters included Team Cedillo, Avenue
50 Studio, the Autry, Friends of the Southwest
Museum, and the Arroyo Seco, Glassell Park,
Greater Cypress Park, and Historic Highland Park
neighborhood councils.
Pola Lopez was selected in 2016 to paint a
new mural based on Cervantes’ designs. Lopez
prepared sketches and was ready to begin when
artist Willie Herron asked if he could try to strip
away the graffiti and whitewash. Herron restored
six of the 1984 Olympic freeway murals and his
own 1973 classic, “Moratorium: the Black and
White Mural.”
Herron and Leah Moscozo, his partner in the
Conservancy of Urban Art, were given the goahead
after initial success. Restorers use different
chemicals to peel away aerosol graffiti and latex
whitewash, known as buff. They liberally spray
a segment of the wall, let it sink into the paint,
scrape off several coats, then repeat, as if shampooing
a rug.
Herron used a high-pressure water hose to
blast large areas. Detail work called for a tool not
much larger than a toothbrush. He points to a
cross-section of paint layers where he found numerous
coats below the work of art, a layer known
as “the fabric.”
“I’ve seen artists update work to reflect their
Panoramic images by Lisa Weingarten
Artist Pola Lopez, left, and restoration experts
Leah Moscozo and Willie Herron found 16 layers
of paint under the whitewash.
newer thinking, so Cervantes may have repainted
some sections,” he said. “Or there may have been
a mural there before, but we haven’t found any
record of it.”
When finished, Herron and Moscozo sealed
the work with another chemical, B-72. The wall is
covered again, but this time with tarps for protection
while Lopez works with Cervantes’ original
art, instead of her reimagined vision.
“Now it’s a true restoration,” she said.
Lineup Set for 6th Annual Latin Music Festival
If the Boogaloo Assassins don’t
get you, La Santa Cecilia will.
Deejay and Producer Jose Rizo
has assembled a weekend of
music in Sycamore Grove that could
make partygoers from East L.A. and
Medellin to Rio de Janeiro get up
and dance. Saturday begins with
young musicians from Bravo High
School and Heart of L.A., and the
Sunday lineup spotlights femaleled
bands. The headliners on both
nights represent a new generation
of Latin jazz and music.
Saturday, October 5
11:05 am ............................... HOLA
12:00 pm ...........Bravo High School
Latin Jazz Band
1:15 pm .......................... Cold Duck
Sunday, October 6
11:45 am ................... Susie Hanson
Latin Band
12:50 pm ........................ Las Chikas
2:00 pm ....................... Trish Toledo
2:55 pm .....................Little Willie G
4:25 pm .................Francisco Torres
Latin Jazz Ensemble
5:55 pm ....Andy Vargas & Souleros
7:25 pm .......... Boogaloo Assassins
3:10 pm ......................... Selenamos
4:25 pm ................................... Cava
5:45 pm .......................Vilma Diaz y
La Sonora Dinamita
7:15 pm ................. La Santa Cecilia
ARTS & CULTURE 5