The mission of the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture is to advance arts, culture, and creativity throughout LA County. We fulfill our mission by providing services and support in areas including grants and technical assistance for nonprofit organizations; professional development opportunities; commissioning civic artworks and managing the County’s civic art collection; implementing countywide arts education initiatives; research and evaluation; career pathways in the creative economy; free community programs; and cross sector creative strategies that address civic issues. This work is framed by the County’s Cultural Equity and Inclusion Initiative and a longstanding commitment to fostering access to the arts.
Work completed in two separate stages. One in November 2008 and the other in Summer 2009.
Sonia Romero's aquatic themed color and graphic paint scheme for Belvedere Community Regional Park Pool brings attention to the importance of fresh water, including its benefits and uses for humankind. Symbols of the water cycle, representations of water gods and protective nymphs from a variety of cultures, and images of swimmers, divers, and other human activities are featured.
Paint labor was provided by youth from the Los Angeles Conservation Corp (LACC), a program that provides job skills, training, education, and work experience for youth, with an emphasis on service projects that benefit the community. Sonia Romero led a pre-painting workshop with the youth participants to explain the intent of the design and discuss execution techniques.
Sonia Romero's color and graphic paint scheme also functions as a creative graffiti abatement strategy. If the buildings are tagged in the future, the Department of Parks & Recreation will utilize the artist provided stencils to recreate the design. In this way, the park is empowered to address vandalism with an artistic, proactive approach.
About the Artist:
Sonia Romero is currently creating art full-time and exhibiting widely in Southern California and beyond, including her recent self-titled debut solo show at the Avenue 50 Studio in Highland Park. Public works include a mural commission and award at the Gene Autry Museum and the Metro Neighborhood Poster Award. She received her education at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, with an emphasis in printmaking. She is the daughter of renowned artists Nancy and Frank Romero, and the granddaughter of Frank and Edith Wyle, founders of the Craft and Folk Art Museum in Los Angeles, California.
