Artwork Detail

The Lifeguard Division of the Los Angeles County Fire Department works closely with the City of Avalon Fire Department and the United States Coast Guard to provide emergency assistance to Catalina Island.  This vital service is celebrated in a ceramic tile mural designed and fabricated by artists Sandow Birk and Elyse Pignolet.  Using a traditional “azulejo” blue and white glazing technique, the mural depicts a seemingly tranquil Avalon Harbor, its peace broken only by a ship in distress near the horizon and an LA County vessel speeding to its rescue.  This seascape is bordered by tiles inspired by the Catalina Tile Company’s designs as well as six vignettes that depict the various specialized activities and vehicles of the Baywatch Avalon lifeguards.  Below the words “Baywatch Avalon” are dots and dashes that signal SOS in Morse Code – the universal distress call that the Lifeguard Division always answers.

The mural is accompanied by ceramic tiles on the stair risers that bear the core values of the Fire Department – Commitment, Courage, Community, Caring, Teamwork, and Integrity – and the poem that is the informal code of the U.S. Lifesaving Service: “You have to go out, and that’s a fact, but nothin’ says you have to come back.”

Sandow Birk received a BFA from the Otis Art Institute of Parsons School of Design.  He went on to receive an NEA International Travel Grant as well as Guggenheim, Fulbright, and Getty Fellowships. Birk has had over 40 solo exhibitions, and many prominent collections possess his artwork, such as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the DeYoung Museum. Birk currently resides and maintains a studio practice in Long Beach. More information is available at: http://www.sandowbirk.com/.

Elyse Pignolet is a California artist of Filipino heritage. Born in Oakland, CA. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from California State University, Long Beach. Pignolet has created several bodies of work that place the extensive history of ceramics in contrast with the temporary nature of graffiti as a starting point to make hand-built sculptures that draw from the traditional calligraphies of various cultures and the characters, combined with the lettering of contemporary urban writing. Her works have been featured in several contemporary arts publications including the LA Weekly, Juxtapoz Magazine, and the Los Angeles Times.