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Arts & Entertainment

Community Celebrates City Mural

Residents gather as the first mural in a series of 10 is unveiled, depicting a 1920s Hermosa Beach.

Hermosa Beach, circa 1924: sharp-dressed men and elegantly dressed women walk the dusty sidewalks of Pier Avenue while Ford Model T cars scuttle across the beachside landscape of a changing city.

Such is the scene depicted in the first mural of the , which is expected to decorate the city with 10 murals in 10 years.

This first image was formally unveiled Saturday at a ceremony held adjacent to its location on at 13th Court and Hermosa Avenue.

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“Every day when I went to work, I could see this mural progressively grow and really capture the essence of Hermosa and the spirit we have in this community,” said Hermosa Beach Mayor Peter Tucker, speaking at the unveiling ceremony.

Seymour Bilowit, 92, who was visiting town after living in Hermosa Beach for decades, took in the festive atmosphere.

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“I came here in 1950 and opened a store here,” Bilowit said, pointing at a particular building that was painted on the mural. That sense of history was what spurred the wall-painting project.

Chuck Sheldon, president of the Hermosa Beach Murals Project, launched the project with other Hermosa Beach residents after visiting the city of Santa Paula, CA.

“Santa Paula has a bunch of murals, so I suggested that this would probably work in Hermosa,” Sheldon told Patch. “Murals upgrade the city; we have a motto that speaks to the importance of the murals.  It’s ‘making a positive impact, one wall at a time.’ ”

The idea was proposed to the Hermosa Beach City Council last year and was approved unanimously.

“They wanted to do a project, because they thought we needed to record some of the history of the town,” said Hermosa Beach City Councilman Kit Bobko. 

The council then approved the Hermosa Avenue location for the first mural, and after an application process, an artist was finally chosen to paint the mural: .

Mortimer’s work can be seen all over Southern California, including prolific displays in Hollywood, Long Beach and Santa Monica. Mural-painting, which he began in 1971, started almost as an accident.

“I was living at the beach in Santa Monica, and I painted something on the side of my house,” Mortimer said. “Then my neighbors said it looked pretty cool and asked if I could do something on the side of their house. Next thing I knew, my work was in the newspaper, and it all went from there.”

Residents and visitors alike formed a sizable crowd to view the unveiling of Mortimer’s Hermosa Beach mural Saturday. The event also featured an auction and reception at the Beach House hotel.

“I think the mural portrays what this city was all those years ago. This portrays what we need to go back to, a little quiet beach town that’ll be ours,” said Hermosa Beach resident Mylo Butler at the event.

Fundraising efforts and several large donations by members of the community helped support the mural, which cost about $35,000, Sheldon said.

The location for the next mural is going to be on the east wall of the on Pier Avenue, Sheldon said, and work is expected to begin around late fall. 

Meanwhile, as Hermosa Beach residents and tourists drive southbound on Hermosa Avenue, they can briefly be taken back in time with the first display.

“The mural shows what Hermosa was about when it started and what it’s all about today,” Tucker said. “And that’s community.”

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