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Mural in a Day artists
Mural photos by Gene Stirm |
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History Comes to Life in Tehachapi
The Tehachapi Main Street Murals Committee has been hard at work over the last five years, raising funds and planning a series of historical murals to showcase the rich history of the Tehachapi Valley. In June, 2005, the fourth mural was completed, and when fundraising allows, more murals will be produced. The murals are meant to beautify the downtown area, showcase history of the area for local residents and serve as a historical guide for visitors to Tehachapi.
The Murals Committee made a commitment early on to produce only first-quality murals. After careful research into the way other communities put together their mural programs, Tehachapi now has a model murals programs, including a murals ordinance, along with site and artist agreements covering legalities such as copyrights and recorded liens to protect the murals in case of a change in ownership on a building. Further research has provided a collection of portfolios from local, regional and nationally-known mural artists. |
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| "The Historic Tehachapi Loop", designed by John Pugh, painted in association with John Spykerbos. A trompe l'oeil effect creates the illusion of damage to the building from the 1952 earthquake. Completed in 2002. |
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The first mural, featuring the world-famous Tehachapi Loop, was designed by nationally-known trompe l'oeil artist John Pugh, completed with his associate Mark Spykerbos. |
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| "1915 Street Dance" mural by Phil Slagter, The site of the dance was the corner of Green and F Street. You see the type of streetlight actually installed in 1915. The faces represent 5 former mayors, other old-time residents, as well as current residents, one child and a dog. The fire hydrant with a straw hat tossed casually on top is from the original photo. Completed in 2004. |
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The second mural features a street dance held in 1915 when the first electric streetlights were installed in Tehachapi. Phil Slagter, another well-known mural artist, used original photos from 1915 to design and paint the mural. Faces of current local residents and those from the history of Tehachapi were incorporated into the scene. At the time, Slagter lived nearby in Canyon Country, but has since moved to Montana. |
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| "People of the Mountains: The Nüwa Tribe" by Colleen Mitchell-Veyna, depicting a natural lake, silhouette of an Indian brave on Black Mountain, a scene showing the way the Nüwa tribe lived, and portraits of more recent tribe members. Completed in 2004. |
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Tehachapi was fortunate to have Visalia artist Colleen Mitchell-Veyna to paint "People of the Mountains," the third mural. It is a depiction of Tehachapi's Native American Nüwa (or Kawaiisu) tribe, and it incorporates a village scene from before contact with the white man. Portraits around the perimeter show more recent members and elders of the tribe, as well as the type of baskets for which the local Indians were known. |
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"T-hacha-P Brand" mural was designed by Art Mortimer and painted by Tehachapi artists (Mural in a Day). Jake Jacobsen (pictured in the oval), along with his brother, Rolf, built the seed-packing she, which now houses the Apple Shed Restuarant. Jake Jacobsen was a former mayor and is known for many civic achievements in Tehachapi. Completed in 2005. |
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The 2005 “T-Hacha-P” mural was done as a Mural In A Day, a technique in which a master artist researches and designs the mural, sketches the mural on the wall to scale, mixes all the paints. Then local artists do the actual painting in one day. Work starts at 8 am and continues until 5 pm, at which time the scaffolding is whisked away, the area cleaned up, and the dedication is held. Mural In A Day is a way for local artists to learn the techniques and challenges of working on a more monumental scale than that to which most are accustomed. There were 15 Tehachapi artists who worked on the “T-Hacha-P” mural, along with Art Mortimer, the master artist from Santa Monica. |
New mural coming July, 2006!
"Red Front Blacksmith Shop" mural is currently being painted by Lyn Bennett. The original Red Front Blacksmith Shop was located directly across the
street from this mural. The workers pictured represent many local
ranching families. The images in the ovals next to the buildings show
scenes from Tehachapi’s ranching history. The outside ovals show
working blacksmiths in their shops. All images were taken from old
photographs. A few of the well-known local cattle brands and the
names of the ranchers are shown in the box. |
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July 2006 is the completion date for the “Red Front Backsmith Shop” mural, painted by local artist Lyn Bennett. A sixth mural, featuring Avolino Martinez, a local vaquero who died at 112 years old and who rode with the infamous Joaquin Murrieta bandito gang as a young man, is also to be completed in 2006.
The Main Street Murals Committee is grateful to The Arts Council of Kern and the Kern County Board of Supervisors for a grant to help complete the Street Dance mural. Other grants from The Tehachapi Loop Railroad Club, Bank of The Sierra, The Bakersfield Californian Foundation, Bank of The West, The Tehachapi Loop (formerly The Hilltop Shopper Newspaper), as well as fundraisers, and donations from the building owners, and donations from the community, have provided additional funding.
If you have mural ideas, want to make a donation or wish to join the Murals Committee, please call the Main Street Tehachapi office for more information 661-822-6519.
A DVD about the Tehachapi murals program is available as well as prints of each mural. A walking tour brochure is available at the Museum at 310 S. Green Street, as well as Main Street office and the Chamber of Commerce.
Charles White, Chairman
Main Street Murals Committee |
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