Issuance

Artist: Wilson, Evan LaGrande

Date: 2009

Medium: Acrylic on canvas

County Department: Public Library

Artwork Site: La Crescenta Library

Supervisorial District: 5

Current Status: On view

About the Artwork: The La Crescenta Library was built in the style of the late 19th century arts and crafts architecture movement and features high ceilings, comfortable furniture and light-flooded readings areas for children and adults. Artist Evan Le Grande Wilson created three large-scale murals and a 300-foot frieze for the interior of the library. The artwork, painted features local landscapes inspired by the views seen from the adjacent windows and resembling early 20th century landscape paintings of the west. The arts and crafts style of the work carries over to the mural in the children’s section where Wilson creates playful imagery in this style.

About the Artist: Evan Le Grande Wilson, a painter and graduate of UCLA, has executed public and private commissions nationally, including murals for the City of San Gabriel's Auditorium and SBC/Pacific Bell in Newport Beach. Wilson, a La Crescenta resident, is known for his versatile decorative painting styles, including gilding, trompe l'oeil and scrollwork. He has also restored historic murals at the City of Los Angeles' City Hall and the St. Andrews Baptistry in Pasadena, among many others. In May 2006, his sample painting for the dome at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in North Hollywood, titled Ascension Scene for the Main Dome, was selected for exhibit at the M. C. Escher Museum in the Hague, Netherlands.