Thursday, August 23, 2007 – Darkness Repurposed

There was that Chagall Mural at the beach in Venice, a project from The Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC), founded 1976 by the muralist Judith F. Baca, painter Christina Schlesinger, and filmmaker Donna Deitch.  As they post here and there in Venice – "SPARC has called Venice home for twenty-five years and has played a big part in making Los Angeles the Mural Capital of the World."

This is their home, the former Venice Division of the Los Angeles Police Department, at 685 Venice Boulevard, many blocks inland from the beach.  It was an active jail from 1929 until the early seventies – now it's a gallery, a "tiendita," a mural/digital lab, and is home to one of the largest collections of murals/public art in its Mural Resource and Education Center.

From their site, a bit about the building –

The building is a two-story, reinforced concrete Art Deco building. Its’ exterior has a granite base and a stucco finish scored to appear like stone. The structure is set back from the street; in addition, the landscaping at the front consists of a lawn and ornamental shrubs around the foundation.

The front elevation is symmetrical and has a central, slightly recessed area, which contains; the entry, flanked by fluted, stylized pilasters and relief panels with a scroll design. A series of six steps with granite-clad side walls leads up to the entry from the walkway. Above the entry are three narrow, deeply recessed, multi-paned, metal sash-windows. Above these windows are relief panels with Egyptian-Revival-style figures. The central figure symbolizing justice is flanked by figures representing various trades.

First and second story windows on either side of the entry are set between piers topped by stylized Art Deco capitals. Above each of these windows are zigzag notchings. Above the second-story windows are medallions with stars. The side facades have a series of paired windows set between Art Deco piers.

The parapet which surrounds the flat roof is outlined with a zigzag-patterned cornice which is slanted inward. The parapet is extended above the entry. Visible from the east side is a large chimney, which has a similar cornice. A porte cochere on the east has four large piers and a flat roof with matching zigzag cornices.

The building has been maintained by the sweat equity of artists and SPARC is proud to call it home of the murals of Los Angeles as well as center for education on community cultural development work.

The jail cells are now something else entirely.

If you wish to use any of these photos for commercial purposes I assume you'll discuss that with me. And should you choose to download any of these images and use them invoking the "fair use" provisions of the Copyright Act of 1976, please provide credit, and, on the web, a link back this site.

Technical Note:

Most of these photographs were shot with a Nikon D70 - using lens (1) AF-S Nikkor 18-70 mm 1:35-4.5G ED, or (2) AF Nikkor 70-300mm telephoto, or after 5 June 2006, (3) AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor, 55-200 mm f/4-5.6G ED. They were modified for web posting using Adobe Photoshop 7.0.  Earlier photography was done with a Sony Mavica digital still camera (MVC-FD-88) with built-in digital zoom.

All text and photos, unless otherwise noted, Copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 - Alan M. Pavlik