As I drove around Downey yesterday looking for a picture for my post, I stopped at Downey High School to take a picture of the demolition that is going on as part of a campus renovation project.
I took a few pictures, including this one of the school's mural, but the sunlight was harsh, the fence was in the way, and nothing turned out very well.
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| Photo by George Redfox |
The mural was created in 1973 by local artist, sculptor, and Downey High art teacher Charlotte von Troesch. I lived across the street from Charlotte for almost 20 years. I knew her simply as Charlotte, our eccentric artist neighbor who had a beautiful Dalmatian and who told great stories about our neighborhood in the "old" days, when the neighborhood cows used to get loose and wander through her garden.
In addition to a backyard filled with what were to me somewhat odd sculptures, Charlotte also had a fish pond, whose fish were so used to her daily feedings that they popped up to the surface as soon as she touched the water. This was unfortunate, as I learned when my cat started depositing dead goldfish on my back door mat.
Until today, I never knew that she was a world-famous artist, or that the mural that I used to pass almost daily was her creation.
At least you get to photograph the mural before the demolition. I like the final result of the fence in the foreground.
ReplyDeleteWhen I found out that they were going to tear down the Downey High School mural I almost cried. Mrs. Troesch was my art teacher back in 1968. My sister (who passed away a few years ago) worked on the mural in 1973 or 1974. She was so proud of working on the mural and I know she too would have been very upset by the demolition of this beautiful work of art.
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