Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles

04/02/2026

Hanging with the incomparable Mat Gleason, aka Mr Coagula, today at HQ. Checking out a Gil Ortiz photo of a Kent Twitchell mural of Lita Albuquerque prior to a Will Herron restoration.

10/03/2025

The work of preservation isn't always glamorous, but it's always worth it. Eloy Torrez and Art Mortimer working on the restoration of Torrez's "Pope of Broadway". Unpictured: Council District 14... City of Los Angeles DCA...Isabel Rojas-Williams...Gil Ortiz...and Anthony Quinn.

09/16/2025

We ran across these photos from the 2012 restorations of the 1984 Olympics Freeway Murals. Great work by everyone involved, starting of course with the artists.

03/04/2023

Date: Sunday, March 5, 2023 from 2pm-4pm at the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy at the Japanese American National Museum
(Optional) Mural viewing from 1:00pm-1:30pm at the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles Headquarters. RSVP for this panel discussion through (recommended) Eventbrite link in bio.

03/04/2023

Date: Sunday, March 5, 2023 from 2pm-4pm at the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy at the Japanese American National Museum
(Optional) Mural viewing from 1:00pm-1:30pm at the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles Headquarters. RSVP for this panel discussion through (recommended) Eventbrite link in bio.

02/20/2023

Now for the understatement: This is going to be good…

Taiji Terasaki, "Recipes to Nourish the Planet"
Mural Unveiling and Reception at Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles (MCLA)
260 S. Main St., Los Angeles,Feb 25, 2-4pm
https://www.themcla.org/

The mural project highlights and features local activists, artists, and organizations, such as Alma Backyard Farms, The Ron Finley Project, Fallen Fruit, and the LA Mission. the mural explores different modalities of providing nourishing help and will include an AR component.

There will also be a companion panel discussion with the artist, Ron Finley, Austin Young, David Allen Burns, Erika Cuellar, Richard D. Garcia, Troy Vaughn, and moderated by Art Critic Shana Nys Dambrot at the Japanese American National Museum on Sunday, March 5 at 2pm, 100 N. Central Ave., Los Angeles.

Taiji Terasaki: www.taijiterasaki.com

09/05/2022

Recent article about restoration of the "200 Years of Freedom" mural in Corona. MCLA was one of the Plaintiffs in the underlying lawsuit that was eventually decided against them. But the community of volunteers and local federal and state agencies have worked with the parties to the case to bring this back to its original state. What started as a lawsuit ended as a community event. Some things are bigger than lawsuits can handle.

The original was conceived of and painted by students from a different time, but a time of turmoil. The country coming out of an unpopular war, inflation, high gas prices...eerily familiar. But some high school kids could get together and paint a message in simple block letters that would be enjoyed by millions of people over the years. So much so that there would be a fight with the federal government to keep the image alive. It's symbolic that such a profound image is at the intersection of freeways linking Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. Over seven years ago, the Board of the MCLA took about 10 seconds to decide to get involved with this project. It was exactly what we like to do -- help people in communities protect art that means something to them. This was truly a no-brainer. Community activists had already gathered tens of thousands of signatures and were strongly united. They just needed some direction and time. Maybe they got too much time -- some of the volunteers have passed away in the interim, and they are sorely missed. But things do get done if everyone works together. That might seem cliched these days when the pot-stirrers fight for our attention, but the pot-stirrers have yet to prove this cliche wrong.

Artwork created by Corona High School students in 1976 and visible off the 91 Freeway has fallen into disrepair over the years.

07/24/2022

Great day on a bus tour to Craig Krull Gallery for Kent Twitchell’s show. The bus couldn’t stop by MCLA so here’s a taste of what was inside.

03/04/2022

Kent Twitchell is in town for a talk Saturday in Riverside. Here's the info:

“The Godfather of Street Art,” muralist, Kent Twitchell, will be speaking to very limited audience on Saturday, March 5th at 1pm. In 1971 Twitchell painted his first mural on the side of a friend’s house on Union Avenue in Los Angeles. He soon became a Southern California icon with his series ...

02/26/2022

Just found these photos someone emailed to us in 2014. Various work from the Los Angeles Fine Arts Squad.

12/01/2021

There has been a lot going on lately for the MCLA. The big news is we took possession of a beautiful space (under a lease from the City) at 260 S. Main St., Los Angeles, California, USA. We'll be there for quite sometime and hope to pass on over 30 years of public art knowledge and wisdom to anyone who cares to listen. We had a stakeholders' meeting on Nov. 11, and we are excited to see what the future brings. Thanks to the City Council (esp. CD14), the City GSA and the Real Estate Division, Isabel Rojas-Williams, our Board members and Advisory Board members (past, present and future), and everyone who stuck with us during Covid. Special thanks to Founders Kent Twitchell and Bill Lasarow. Most of all, thanks to the public artists who give us something to talk about and stand up for.