Downtown Los Angeles, the 300 block of South Broadway. Cat art on the rooftop of the building at 351 South Broadway. This silhouette of a cat on the rooftop of an old building amused and delighted me when I visited it this weekend.
The thing I didn't realize until now, when I wanted to verify the address for this blog post, is that the mural that used to be on this building, titled "Calle de la Eternidad" by Johanna Poethig is now gone. The building has been renovated, and will become office suites and new retail space. The property developer intends to re-install the mural on the side of the building.
I suppose that is a good thing. But the mural was a wonderful piece of art that lent its beauty and power to the Broadway streetscape. I will miss it.
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| This mural is no longer there. |
Hooray for the cat, boo for the removing of colorful and powerful art (although I suppose "yay" for the reinstallment of the art on the side of the building)... and since I don't like change in general, I'm probably not the person to ask about it.
ReplyDeleteWhen I return to my childhood street, I want it to look the same.
Me too, Karen!
ReplyDeleteLove the cat. How will they reinstate the mural, I wonder?
ReplyDeleteI get lost when landmarks change or are torn down. I use landmarks as my directional cues, so when a landmark disappears I almost always get lost. It upsets me a bit.
This happens all the time in Florida since the landscape there changes every other day, it seems.
ALBUG
Ooh, that cat is wonderful! Wonder if I could convince my husband that we need one on our roof?
ReplyDeleteI've seen several murals reinstalled in Santa Barbara.
ReplyDeleteI know that the only constant in today's urban environment is change, but that doesn't make it any easier to accept the disappearance of beloved icons.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid, I had this sense of permanence about the things around me, that buildings and public spaces that mattered to me - the restaurant kitty-corner to the hospital where I stayed, the giant orange-shaped fruit juice stand known as "OJ", the bridge over the river to my house - would always be there.
Eventually, I learned nothing stays the same forever. I know, logically, that this is the way the world works - and it also, obviously, isn't just an urban phenomenon, as it also applies to the natural world.
But still, sometimes I wish we could hold on a little longer. Thanks for the reminder of why these seemingly small things matter so much.
Great article. I'm dealing with a few of these issues as
ReplyDeletewell..
Review my blog post; Political Art