I am happy to say that the Florence Avenue Mural I’ve been working on for the past month is finished. It was commissioned by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.
Mural Inspiration:
The mural design for the Florence Avenue Parking Lot draws inspiration from the energy one can feel from the community members, workers, shop owners and commuters along with the families and children that are constantly passing the parking lot location. Florence Avenue serves the Florence/Firestone community as a major corridor for many of its residents traveling to and from work. With the Metro Blue Line a block away and several bus lines stopping close to the location, the steady flow of commuters heightens the feeling of traveling and movement.
The Florence/Firestone community is made up almost entirely of Latinos. The mural wall which faces north makes the length of it run east/west. Every major pre-Columbian city in North and South America was based on an east/west axis that mirrors the movement of the sun. The mural design pays homage to the common thread in the community regardless of their ancestry by representing the suns movement which in turn is symbolic of our own daily movements.
The mural itself on the east end of the wall is a peaceful sunrise welcoming commuters and families with warm colors breaking though the blue starry sky every morning. The images invite each individual to experience it with each new day and be reminded that everyday there is a new beginning. The moon on the west end of the wall is in cooler colors meant to calm and invoke a feeling of peace to the traveler or individual with the ending of the day while welcoming them back to their homes and families.
The sun and moon are also to be seen as artifacts half unearthed by the construction that is part of the communities redevelopment efforts, symbols of the communities pride that links the past to the present.
