County Supervisors Approve Tujunga Wash Mural Restoration Plan

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a plan Tuesday to restore pedestrian access to a half-mile-long mural along the Tujunga Wash that depicts California from prehistoric times to the 1950s.

More than 400 youngsters and their families created the Great Wall of Los Angeles Mural over a five-year period beginning in 1974. Located on the west wall of the Tujunga Wash, the art can be seen from Coldwater Canyon Avenue between Burbank Boulevard and Oxnard Street.

"When I first saw the wall, I envisioned a long narrative of another history of California; one which included ethnic peoples, women and minorities who were so invisible in conventional text book accounts,"  Judith Baca, founder and artistic director of the Social And Public Art Resource Center, said in a statement posted on SPARC's website.

A wooden bridge installed years ago fell into disrepair and was removed. The installation of a solar-lit steel pedestrian bridge and viewing station is estimated to cost $1.3 million. It will be funded by $181,500 from the county, supplemented by money from the city of Los Angeles, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and the California Cultural Historical Endowment.