NOT A PRETTY PICTURE WALL MURAL FADING FAST.

Byline: Lisa Mascaro Staff Writer

VALLEY GLEN - The Great Wall in the Tujunga Wash - the mother of all murals in a city that has become the mural capital of the world - is fading one day at a time.

Los Angeles' rich depiction of the lives of its diverse population is chipping away, even as its creators seek money to restore the 26-year-old public artwork.

The city can spend a quarter-million dollars to bring a retrospective of New York City artist Andy Warhol to downtown, arts advocates complain, but can't find money to preserve a landmark mural born of a San Fernando Valley native.

If Mayor James Hahn wants to show his support for the cultural institutions that make Los Angeles a great city, says artist Judith Baca, the mural's creator, here's his chance.

``We think Valley secession should get Mayor Hahn to back the Great Wall. Why shouldn't he? ... This is a chance for him to demonstrate that City Hall is interested in the cultural landmarks of the Valley,'' said Baca, now a University of California, Los Angeles, professor and founder of the Social and Public Art Resource Center in Venice.

``He could change the perception of the city not being concerned by making this a tourist destination in L.A.

``Let us put a sign on the freeway, put (in) a water fountain ... trim the hedges, make it a place people would go. If that site was lit at night, had proper toilet and water facilities ... would that not be a tourist destination? Would people not drive there to see something for free?

``If there were ongoing paintings on Saturdays and Sundays, would people not go to see?''

Baca estimates it would take $500,000 to restore and expand the mural, which is painted on the wall of the wash along Coldwater Canyon Avenue between Oxnard Street and Burbank Boulevard, and bring the kind of infrastructure needed to make it a destination for fans the world over who appreciate the artwork.

``We'll look into it,'' said Hahn spokeswoman Julie Wong, adding that the Mayor's Office hasn't yet been asked for more funds. ``We would definitely want to work with them to find out what we can do.''

The Great Wall came to life in 1976, and grew to its record-breaking 2,435-foot-long length during a half-dozen hot Valley summers, with hundreds of inner-city kids painting its panels.

Decades of history unfold on the mural that was groundbreaking in its community involvement, size and social commentary, said arts experts at the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles.

``As soon as you start learning about murals, you learn about the Great Wall,'' said Sherman Oaks resident Robin Dunitz, vice president of the board of the Mural Conservancy.

Untold history

``I think there's a lot of history in that mural that's not told in other places. Things like the community struggle when Dodger Stadium was built, the fact that there was a neighborhood there that had to be uprooted. There's a lot of history in that mural people should know about.''

At the urging of City Councilman Alex Padilla, the city last year allocated $100,000 toward the project.

But the funds came in the form of a matching grant that require Baca's SPARC to raise $200,000 before the city money can be released - a standard practice by the city's Cultural Affairs Department to ensure that a project has all the funds needed before work begins, an official said.

``It's greatly appreciated,'' Baca said. ``However, it would be more appreciated if it could be used immediately.''

Baca's group has outlined an ambitious restoration and expansion plan that includes filling in chipped paint, washing the mural and extending it to include more recent decades of the area's history.

More than $200,000 in grants have come in - but that money has been earmarked for expansion, not renovation, so it doesn't qualify for city matching funds.

But the city funding is only a fraction of what's needed for the project, reflecting what arts activists call a historic lack of appreciation for the genre - and its location.

``It was ahead of its time, it was do-good art, it was a minority woman artist ... then you add to it that it's in the Valley,'' Baca said. ``There is a long-standing sense that nothing culturally influential could happen in the Valley.''

But for Baca, who grew up in Pacoima and started the mural as part of her master's thesis at California State University, Northridge, there was no other home for her landmark project.

``For me, the Valley was exactly where it needed to be because of the white flight, because of the way it didn't understand itself to be part of this great multicultural city. The Valley was changing. It was all starting to happen. It was a conflict I had grown up with my whole life,'' she said.

When the Army Corps of Engineers approached her to consider the paved-over wash of the flood control basin, she found her home.

``What we were doing was tattooing on a scar, ... reintroducing into the public consciousness the amazing diversity of people that is uniquely Los Angeles' gift,'' she said.

Still, she added, she can't help but wonder what would have happened if the Great Wall unfolded downtown.

``I've long thought if I could get the piece on the side of the Convention Center ... we would have an incredible response to the work,'' Baca said.

``Can we say it's all about being in the Valley? I would say it's partly about being in the Valley.''

The Cultural Affairs Department's Felicia Filer, director of the Public Art Division, said the funding issues faced at the Great Wall are found at murals across the city.

Valley not deprived

``I don't think the issue that it being in the Valley or that it's 'a mural' is it at all,'' Filer said. ``This is an issue for artworks all over the country. In fact, there are some murals that are downtown that are older than the Great Wall that need attention.

``People are looking at Los Angeles to see how we're addressing the issue because the history of the mural is older here.''

The department last year changed its priority from creating more murals to preserving those already in place, she said.

Filer said city grants like the $100,000 given toward the Great Wall project are rarely allocated without the mandate for matching funds. The hope is that the money can provide leverage to propel other donors to contribute enough money to do the work.

She adds that the $230,000 for the Warhol show came about through a City Council motion - the same way the funds for the Great Wall were secured.

``The city's piece is in. The city's money is on the table,'' she said. ``Hopefully, they'll be successful in seeing the match and completing the work.''

Councilman Padilla's office points out that the $100,000 secured for the Great Wall is double the city's entire $50,000 mural budget for the coming fiscal year.

``If that isn't a record, I don't know what is,'' said spokesman David Gershwin. ``This is an unprecedented level of funding for any mural project in the city of Los Angeles.''

Another arts activist said the Cultural Affairs Department is doing what it can to renovate murals - having recently renovated 12 citywide, including some in the Valley - and that the Great Wall hasn't lost out to other parts of the city.

Arts funding - mainly reliant on the city's hotel tax - is suffering during the economic downturn, its budget slashed for the coming year, officials said.

``It hasn't been excluded while all the money's gone over the hill,'' said Bill Lasarow, a board member of the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles and publisher of an art magazine.

Lasarow took the Valley to task for not taking better care of its own.

``As far as the Valley creating a cultural infrastructure, the Valley has shown an incredible lack of (commitment) to its own cultural institutions,'' he said.

``They gripe about 'I gotta go over the hill to go to the Dorothy Chandler ... Where is the group of people, the Eli Broads ... to sit on the boards and develop Valley institutions? The level of support coming from the people in the Valley is lukewarm to pathetic.''

He added: ``Spread the blame all around.''

James Kinsey, president and CEO of the Valley Cultural Center - one of the longest-running arts organizations in the Valley - said perhaps the Valley could do a better job at getting to know the Great Wall project.

``Maybe the community isn't as aware of the project as it should be. I would hate to see the efforts of this art and the community go to waste,'' said Kinsey.

CAPTION(S):

4 photos, map

Photo:

(1 -- color) Joggers run along a path next to the Tujunga Wash's Great Wall, the longest mural in Los Angeles, which needs a face lift.

(2 -- 3 -- color) Panels of the mural depict the assimilation of local Indians into the mainstream culture, the migration and prosperity of Asians and the eviction of families from Chavez Ravine in 1959 to build a stadium for the transplanted Brooklyn Dodgers.

(4) A neighbor walks his dogs along the wash past a panel that chronicles various city residents' triumphs in the Olympic Games.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer

Map:

Great Wall