UCLA alum’s mural honoring Hollywood jazz artists restored
UCLA alumnus Richard Wyatt Jr. recently restored his mural “Hollywood Jazz 1945-1972” on the side of the Capitol Records Building in Hollywood. The mural depicts 11 jazz musicians, including saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker, trumpeter Miles Davis and singer Billie Holiday.
The portraits of famous jazz saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker, trumpeter Miles Davis and singer Billie Holiday were once cracked and faded to a mere outline, but are now fully restored and seem to glow with bright yellows, vibrant oranges and intense blues.
The portraits are three of the 11 jazz musicians depicted in the ceramic tile mural, “Hollywood Jazz 1945-1972.” UCLA alumnus Richard Wyatt Jr. originally painted the mural in 1990 and it was restored by Wyatt from mid-2011 to late 2012. Wyatt graduated with a degree in fine arts in 1978 and has painted murals all over Los Angeles, from corporate office buildings to Metro stations to Bel Air and Watts.
“Hollywood Jazz 1942-1972” stretches across the entire south wall of the Capitol Records Building in Hollywood. The mural was originally sponsored by the Los Angeles Jazz Society and the restoration was commissioned by Capitol Records.
While the mural’s medium may have changed from paint to tile and the colors may be brighter, Wyatt said the concept of the original mural and its restoration are the same.
“The concept was to pay tribute to these lovely artists who in some fashion or form were pioneers in the jazz movement and particularly in Los Angeles,” Wyatt said.
Wyatt and his four main assistants worked full time for almost a year and a half on the mural’s restoration. Later in the process, 12 extra assistants also helped Wyatt. Artist Michele Evans was one of Wyatt’s four primary aids. She specifically helped him with drawing and glazing the tiles for the restoration.
“(The mural) had been washed out by the sun and it was peeling and cracking. It wasn’t doing the space any justice and it really needed to be refreshed,” Evans said.
Wyatt said he was first inspired to create public art while at UCLA. He said he realized most people would not have the opportunity to see the work he was making because it was displayed in galleries.
“I was worried about the fact that a lot of the work I was doing was not going to be seen by the people in the community I grew up with,” Wyatt said. “So for my first mural I went back to Compton, where I grew up.”
Wyatt said he hopes his public murals allow people to interact with art in their daily lives.
To make his murals, Wyatt said he always looks into the history of the site and often finds history that most of the community is not even aware of. For example, Wyatt looked through the archives of Robert F. Kennedy and talked to many of RFK’s former campaign assistants for the mural he recently completed honoring the politician. He then put his favorite RFK quotes that he found while researching into the mural.
“I always try to tie the history of the place into a contemporary setting,” Wyatt said.
“There’s history on top of history on top of history, and I try to represent that in my work.”
Wyatt said he likes working with unconventional materials whenever he can. He used recycled glass, stainless steel and stone as part of his RFK mural.
Later in his career Wyatt began working with ceramic tile. Wyatt said he chose ceramic tile for the restoration of “Hollywood Jazz 1945-1972” instead of paint because it can more easily withstand the sunlight and poor air quality of Los Angeles. Wyatt and his team first outlined the original mural using carbon paper. Then, they drew the original design onto the tiles. Later they hand-glazed the tiles and fired them in the kiln. If the tiles came out as they were supposed to, Wyatt and his assistants could install them.
Artist Rudy Mendez is a former assistant of Wyatt and also helped Wyatt find and manage the group of people who helped complete “Hollywood Jazz 1945-1972” in the last two months of the mural process. Mendez said he admires Wyatt’s work so much that it has inspired him to be a better artist.
“(Wyatt) is one of the premier painters in Los Angeles and in his murals it shows,” Mendez said. “Not just in scale, but the subject matter, the composition and the thought that he puts behind the message he wants to say. He wants to tell a story. And then you add, on top of that, his skill and technique. It’s absolutely ridiculous.”
