The undertaking was organized by the cleanup team, a volunteer corps of the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre International in Hollywood, which has been a primary driver of Hollywood cleanup and beautification projects for more than a decade.
The objective was to create, in a single day’s work, three interconnecting murals to cover the eyesore of a dilapidated chain-link fence behind the community building situated near the intersection of Fountain and Cole avenues in Hollywood. The site neighbors the Los Angeles Police Department Hollywood Station, L.A. Fire Department Station 27 and the L.A. City Council office in Hollywood.
Artists with the team first sketched mural designs onto a 100-foot-long canvas. Volunteers dismantled the old, ragged fence cover at the site and removed debris, secured the canvas to the fence and proceeded to bring the three connecting murals to life—painting the entirety in a 3½-hour timeframe. “Amazingly fast and powerful work,” commented an LAPD officer.
“The murals remind us that even though police, fire, and city council teams all work in our own worlds, we are all working together to build a better community.”
The Church volunteers worked under the theme for the day of “Safeguard and Improve Your Environment,” from precept #12 of the nonreligious, common sense moral code, The Way to Happiness.
The project site lent itself to a message of gratitude for the public safety workers and first responders who look upon or pass by the fence each day. Thus, the bold “Thank you” incorporated into the mural.
In all, 64 volunteers, from age 2 to 74, joined in the Hollywood Neighborhood Cleanup beautification project. Among them were several who had seen notices on social media and joined in the endeavor—from a neighbor of the project site, to a mural artist from North Hollywood, and a Colombian native in Venice Beach who jumped at the chance to put art and volunteering to a worthwhile end.
Concurrently, a corps of LAPD Junior Cadets ages 8 to 12 went to work right around the corner at the side of the community building, where they cleaned up and restored an existing mural, “Arts Bridging the Gap,” that had been defaced with graffiti.
“The murals remind us that even though police, fire, and city council teams all work in our own worlds, we are all working together to build a better community,” said an LAPD officer on the scene. “This mural will remind us of that each day we come to work.”
At the end of the day’s project, the volunteers were treated to wraps and desserts from Celebrity Centre’s Renaissance Restaurant along with Domino’s Pizza and refreshments. Project sponsors and supporters included Kettle Glazed Doughnuts and Dunkin’ Donuts.
