Pasadena's neighborhood mural program tries again

By Janette Williams, Staff Writer Pasadena Star News

PASADENA - Technically, the mural by artist Luis Ituarte is the second commissioned in the city's grant-funded Neighborhood Enhancement Mural Program.

But since an ill-fated first mural in Northwest Pasadena was mistakenly painted over soon after its completion, "Cool Succulents" will become the program's first piece of public art.

This time the new 880-square-foot mural won't actually be painted on a wall.

It was created digitally by computer and transferred to specially treated weather-resistant material, Ituarte said.

But that doesn't mean the process was problem-free.

Plans were to install the mural on the side of the Pasadena Fish Market and Restaurant, 181 E. Orange Grove Blvd. last week, but some technical glitches in the process have put in on hold for perhaps a few weeks, according to the artist's wife, Gerda Govine-Itaurte.

Since the program's murals are designed to be in place only for five years, Ituarte said, having it on fabric makes more sense than painting it directly on a wall.

After that long, he said, any mural on an exterior wall will need some serious repair, which could cost more than the original.

"It's pretty unique," Ituarte said of the technique he used. "I think this way of doing a mural is going to take off... If an artist paints a mural on a wall and after five years you're going to cover it up, that's pretty sad."

Ituarte said he created five different designs for the mural, funded in part by a $2,500 city Arts Commission grant.

"We went to the place it was going to be, invited the community to the restaurant last year and they decided which one they wanted," he said. "They liked the succulents very much. I think people relate to them in our semi-desert climate - and some people think they look like green roses."

Ituarte, whose father was an architect, said he believes a mural should enhance a building's style.

"An architect has to comply with certain regulations, the way the building or house or whatever looks," he said. "Then these people come along and make a mural not respecting what was originally there."

When installed, the mural will cover an entire wall of the restaurant, which Ituarte describes as being in a "classically nondescript" 1960s building.

"It's very pleasant for this place," he said. "People who drive past can see it from the street. And the subject matter is pleasant, not political - sort of a flower combined with an abstract."

Ituarte is known locally for his "Poly-Paint" murals for the Pasadena Boys and Girls Club, the Scott McKenzie Child Care Center and the Art Center College of Design. He has exhibited work in the California, Washington, D.C., Canada, Italy and Mexico over the past 38 years.

Some of his mural work is included in the USC library, Los Angeles and California Mural Collection and the California Ethnic and Multicultural Collection, city officials said.

Rochelle Branch, the city's cultural affairs manager, said the mural is considered an artwork rather than a "super-graphic," and that it can simply be removed when the time comes.

"It allows the artist to easily take possession of the work, should the need arise," she said. "The other benefit is to the property owner, who may have a different use for this space in coming years."

Branch said the city is in the process of "finalizing" a new site and a new commission for artist Christian Alderete. His mural at a store on North Fair Oaks Avenue was painted over in November after a code-enforcement mix-up.

Ituarte is happy with the fabric mural.

"The technique wasn't something I invented, but in the circumstances it's turning out to be great," he said.


This article was from the Pasadena Star News Paper