We’ve been getting some questions about our mural. That, in itself, is a very exciting development. One primary goal of this mural project has been to generate conversation about our community, its values and its hopes. In light of these questions, we’ve developed a short Q & A of our most frequently asked questions. These questions have come to us from those who are members of the Hollywood Adventist Church, who is sponsoring the project, and from those in the Hollywood neighborhood more generally. Here are the questions. Click here (or the tab marked FAQ, above) for the answers.

Why a mural? Why graffiti art
How was the artist chosen? Why Man One?
Why is the church soliciting community input?
Is art, then, compromised and made subservient to some other spiritual or social agenda?
Is God or church somehow diminished in the worldly medium of graffiti art?

The next workshop has been scheduled for Sunday afternoon, April 6, at 3:00 pm. At this workshop the artist, Man One, will share the first draft of his design for the Crossroads @ HOLLYWOOD mural and solicit input from the community. We hope you can join us.

Location:

1711 N Van Ness Ave., Hollywood, CA 90028

Approximately 30 people gathered at the Hollywood Adventist Church on Saturday afternoon, March 8, to give their input on a “community-based art mural” being proposed for the exterior wall of the church, facing the 101 Freeway.

After opening remarks by Neville Salvador (a member of the church and an architect by profession) which you can read after the jump, muralist ManOne gave a 20-minute slide presentation of his experience and previous work doing public art murals.

After ManOne’s presentation, participants gathered in groups of 6 or 7 around tables to fill out a questionaire and share their ideas about what would make for a great mural that depicts the beauty and character of our neighborhood. Each table then reported back to the larger group.

It was a very useful and productive time. New acquaintances were made and we all learned something new. A huge thank you to all who participated!

Introductory Comments, by Neville Salvador
Before we turn this workshop over to Lennox, our master of ceremonies and facilitator for the afternoon, please allow me to say a few words.

On behalf of the purple church at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and the Hollywood Freeway, I’d like to welcome and thank you for taking your valuable time to help us make Hollywood a more beautiful community.

Hello, my name is Neville Salvador, I’m currently the head elder of this church; and in that capacity, I’d like to welcome you to this exciting adventure.

As an architect, I’ve been involved in many projects I am proud of: from 60-story high rise office buildings to college and university campuses, from corporate interiors to beach homes and theme parks; but of all the projects I’ve been involved in, this one, a single wall with a mural, excites (and scares) me the most. Why? Because it’s personal. It represents transformation, the transformation of my church and the neighborhood, my neighborhood.

Along with my parents and siblings, I joined this church in the early 1970s when we first immigrated to this country, and since then, have observed many changes in the neighborhood. I watched with pain, anxiety, fear and sadness the slow decline of Hollywood Boulevard.

As typical teenage boys, my brother and I would walk across the street, caty corner to the church, to Hollywood Sports Cars and check out the latest Ferrari or Lotus models. But eventually, the exotic car dealership, along with many similar establishments left, and the slow decline of The Boulevard began.

I think we hit rock bottom during the years of subway tunneling that made a virtual ghost town of Hollywood. The Boulevard was nothing but steel plates and sinkholes flanked by empty, abandoned storefronts. The exotic car showrooms gave way to repair garages; boutiques gave way to shops selling cheap trinkets and T-shirts. And what the subway construction hadn’t already destroyed, the Northridge earthquake finished off. Hollywood, literally, became nothing but a pile of rubble.

But thankfully, there is hope, creativity and hard work. And out of the rubble of the former Hollywood rose a new Hollywood, a transformed Hollywood. Yes, in spite of all the challenges, the highs and lows, this is still my church, my neighborhood, my Hollywood.

My brother and I often marvel at the fact that we are living out our childhood dreams, from drooling over bright red Dinos and Berlinetta Boxers, he went on to Art Center in Pasadena and now designs cars in Detroit. I went on to architecture school at San Luis Obispo to become an architect.

I look forward to the day, sometime soon, when my brother visits from Detroit and we can walk across the street together; but instead of looking at Ferraris and Lamborghinis, I can proudly wave my hand toward a finished mural, and say with pride, “See what our community has put together.” With your input, and the talents of a widely-acclaimed artist, we’d like to embody, in this mural, what are the core values of this community–what are its dreams and aspirations. More than just a few brushstrokes and splatters of color on a wall, my hope for this mural is that it captures, and brings together, in all its diversity, this unique, creative, world-reknowned, iconic community called “Hollywood”.

Thank you for caring enough to be here at the crossroads of a new endeavor. Thank for sharing your thoughts, your feelings and your dreams for this neighborhood. Thank you for listening and reaching out to understand someone else’s feelings and opinions, as you share your own. Thank you for engaging in this process, which is your contribution toward building community. May the re-birth and transformation of Hollywood continue.

Welcome to this workshop.

The Hollywood Seventh-day Adventist Church is pleased to announce that we have received a $10,000 Community Beautification Grant from the Office of Public Works to design and implement a community-based art mural to be located on the large wall of our property facing the 101 Freeway.

Our goal for this art mural is to represent the character and values of our community. To that end, we have planned a Community Input Workshop for Saturday, March 8, 2008 from 4:00 – 6:00 pm. At this workshop we will be soliciting input from all our community partners and any members of the community who wish to be involved.

Please join us for this Community Input Workshop and help us design a mural that will be representative of our neighborhood.

The Workshop will be followed by dinner at 6:00 pm and a benefit concert at 7:00 pm. The concert, entitled Triptych, by violinist Melinda Rice, will include works from a long past musical world (brief settings of chorales by Thomas Tallis and William Byrd, Bach’s Cello Suite I on viola), strains of contemporary exuberance, struggle (including Charles Ives’s 4th violin and piano sonata, “Children’s Day at the Camp Meeting” with Mark Menzies, Melodia and Fuga from Bartók’s sonata for solo violin), and realms of stillness that have pressed themselves into music (Arvo Pärt’s Fratres for string quartet, Spiegel im Spiegel for violin and piano, and Luigi Nono’s “Hay Que Caminar” Soñando with Andrew McIntosh).

The concert is free, but donations are strongly encouraged. All donations will go exclusively to producing the Crossroads at Hollywood mural. Please RSVP to (323) 462-0010 if you plan to eat dinner with us so we can provide the right amount of food.

Click these links to download the press release, flyer and concert program and distribute to those in your organization.

How exciting – we just received notice that we have been awarded 10k through the City of Los Angeles – Office of Community Beautification. We will continue to secure private funding and sponsorships, as well as fundraising events toward the completion of our mural project.  Thank you again to all our community supporters.Our community workshops will be kick – starting in the next few weeks. We will keep you posted.  Here is a timeline of the project.  

Crossroads at HOLLYWOOD is a community-based art mural project being proposed by the Seventh-day Adventist Church of Hollywood. The location of the mural is on the church’s West-facing wall (shown in header image at the top of the page). The project was conceived by a group within the church, led by architect Mae Keng Chinn of Onyx Architects. For more information about the project, ways for community members to be involved and progress updates, please subscribe to our RSS feed, email us at info@crossroadsathollywood.com and check back frequently.

(Click to enlarge picture)

A large part of the funding for this mural project – up to $10,000 – will come from the annual grant offered by the Office of Community Beautification, City of Los Angeles. The application was due yesterday and we delivered it on time…all 32 pages!

Now we get to WAIT until January to find out of we’ve been awarded the grant. The Office of Community Beautification expects to receive approximately 200 applications and they anticipate funding 90 of those.