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Gabriel Saravia

English 101

Professor Batty

5 May, 2017

Art of L.A.

The 1984 Olympic games were a very turbulent time in Los Angeles. The director of the

games had just managed to collect enough from donations to actually hold the games. At the

same time the LAPD started to crack down around the areas were the games were held to present

a more welcoming and safe environment for tourist from around the world. In the middle of all

the confusion and uncertainty Los Angeles Olympic Coordination Committee commissioned the

Exposition park welcomes the world mural. It was a turbulent time in Los Angeles and this mural

was a representation of unity and acceptance through its use of color, the images, and, the layout

of the mural.

During the 1984 Olympics in an effort to secure the areas around the main venues law

enforcement cracked down on the residents living in the vicinity. This lead to a lot of tension in

the community toward law enforcement and toward the influx of discrimination towards

Hispanic and African American communities. The LAPD had and increased arrest rate around

these areas and a lot of them were Hispanic and black youth. This is of course expected in an

area were the population living there is predominantly Hispanic and black, but it does not explain
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why the LAPD decided to continue its operations in these areas some publicized incidents. At the

time the security of the Olympics was the largest armed force in peace time. During this time the

mural was commissioned as a gesture of welcome to the coming tourists from around the world.

The color scheme used in the panting is a calm blue which is a very important message to convey

during such a very tense time. I believe the blue with a hint of gold in the corner was chosen on

purpose to represent the power of unity over division and peaceful understanding over violent

clashes. This mural was welcomed by the community at large as well as the tourists.

The mural that stands overlooking the coliseum, the was painted on the Department of Social

Services building stand partially obstructed by slithering lengths of dark green ivy. It was

designed by Robert Arenivar and painted by Jose Luis Gonzales with the help of 20 local high

school student who have their names written in paint in the upper section of the mural. The

mural itself was damaged during the infamous riots of April 1992 also known as the Rodney

King riots. The building in front of where the mural was painted burned down and damaged

some of the lower portion of the mural. The new renovations done on the building in front of the

mural now partially cover the lower portions damaged by the fire. The mural features a depiction

of the Queen of Angels which represents the city of Los Angeles with her arms wide open to

embrace the many flags of the world in welcome to the city above an image of the Los Angeles

memorial coliseum. The Hispanic looking angel with arms wide open embracing many flags

pouring into them represents the sentiment of the community toward the foreign visitors of

welcoming and acceptance. Another feature of the painting is a brown baby angel in the top right

corner playing a golden trumpet which to me seems like a sort of way to convey that this was a

loud and powerful moment in time that held the attention of many people of the world. All along
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the painting are white lines that I believe represent the tension that was felt in the area at the

time. "Diagonal lines give a feeling of moment or tension in the picture"(Bang 7).

This historic mural is an often overlooked piece of art. Many people argue that it doesnt hold

any historic value and that it was just a vanity project commissioned some Olympic committee

but I disagree. I think this mural is very a very important mural in Los Angeles history because it

represents the sentiment of the people of Los Angeles. It represents a sense of unity as opposed

as the possible resentment that could have come out from the cracked down caused by the whole

event. The mural is more than just paint it is a symbol of unity in the face of discrimination

rather than divide and resort to harmed or violence as and outlet to their difficult situation

represented by the color, layout and, images painted. The mural is a symbol of peace and respect

in the city of Los Angeles.

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Works Cited

"Exposition Park Welcomes the World."Exposition Park Welcomes the World | LA County Arts

Commission. LA County Arts, n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2017.

"Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles." Exposition Park Welcomes the World | Mural

Conservancy of Los Angeles. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2017.

Bang, Molly. Picture This! ilearn.laccd.edu/courses/19393/files/989325/download?wrap=1.

Accessed 5 May 2017.