Conservancy News

by Ruthann Lehrer, Advocacy Committee Co-Chair

On September 28^th, City Council moved forward on assigning the Landmarks Commission the responsibility of interpreting and contextualizing the City Hall murals, supported by an ad hoc Council committee consisting of Oscar De La Torre and Christine Parra. Their role is to advise the Landmarks Commission and to make recommendations, participating in the Commission discussions. De La Torre is interested in issues of racial injustice while Parra is interested in interpretation and education. The Arts Commission will also be involved. Thanks to Councilmembers Himmelrich and De La Torre for initiating this positive step forward after meeting with a Santa Monica Conservancy representative.

Photo: Historical Marker Database

While the content of the History mural panel in City Hall has been highly controversial (read our prior messages by clicking here), the companion mural that depicts recreation in Santa Monica has also been criticized. The images there appear to be elitist, upper class white people engaged in tennis, polo, aviation, auto races and sailing. (Click here for a 360-degree view of the murals.)

In order to understand why the artist, Stanton MacDonald-Wright, selected these images, it’s necessary to do research to try to find any statement that he made about that artwork. We found a transcribed oral interview with the artist at the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian. Here is an excerpt in which MacDonald-Wright talks about the Recreation mural. Unfortunately, the interview does not discuss the History mural.

Betty Hoag: There are some details about the Santa Monica City Hall mural I want to ask you about . . . particularly the one where the polo-players are. Do you remember the man in polo jodhpurs standing in front, and then a man on a horse behind him with a mallet?

Stanton MacDonald-Wright: Yes, I remember.

BH: Did those have anything to do with Will Rogers and his polo field?

SM: Yes. And that airplane and the automobile are very distinctly related to Santa Monica. The biggest automobile road-races that they had in California at that time were held in Santa Monica . . . .

BH: On San Vicente Boulevard?

SM: I don’t remember whether they were there or whether they were on Wilshire Boulevard, I forget. Also the first airplane field, Rogers Field, was built and given to Santa Monica by the son-in-law of this fellow about whom I told you, Gorham; he is depicted there. Now the plane business was important then. The Douglas building is shown in the mural. Douglas was the first great airplane-builder in the United States. And the tennis players! Remember, the best tennis players, the world champions, were all developed in Santa Monica: May Sutton and the Ryan girls and May Sutton’s daughter and Tom Bundy (who was later her husband) played in the doubles, and so on. All the greatest tennis players. So all those were put in the mural for good reasons.

What we discover is that the artist selected recreational and spectator sports that were huge visitor attractions and which drew people to Santa Monica. The images were chosen in the spirit of boosterism, pride in recreational activities that made the City famous. MacDonald-Wright was a Santa Monica resident who was quite knowledgeable about the City’s history and attractions.

by Nan Friedman, Beach House Venue Manager
This article was originally published on SantaMonica.gov on September 14, 2021.

This summer, the California Preservation Foundation announced the Annenberg Community Beach House is a recipient of the 2021 Preservation Design Award in the Craftsmanship/Preservation Technology category.

Photos: Annenberg Community Beach House

The Preservation Design Award is for the recent repair and rehabilitation of the site’s historic swimming pool. City staff from the Beach House and Public Works Department implemented this ambitious off-season project to preserve and maintain the pool’s historic features – notably the green and white marble tiled pool deck and hand-painted decorative tile in a polychrome fish motif at the pool bottom. The award application included letters of support from the Santa Monica Conservancy, Frederick Fisher and Partners, Councilmember Gleam Davis, and Landmarks Commissioner Amy Green. The award ceremony will take place on Thursday, October 21, 2021.

The pool, designed by Julia Morgan, California’s first licensed female architect, dates back to 1928 as part of Marion Davies’ original Beach House estate, built for her by paramour William Randolph Hearst. Constructed on the same five beachfront acres of the Davies estate, the Annenberg Community Beach House opened to the public in 2009, as a community destination open to all with no membership required. The current day Beach House by architect Frederick Fisher and Partners blends the past with the contemporary, incorporating not only the original pool but a guest house from the Davies estate.

Original Beach House pool with bridge.

Located between the Pacific Coast Highway and Santa Monica State Beach, the Annenberg Community Beach House pool is one of Santa Monica’s most treasured community amenities. Mothballed after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, the historic pool was reimagined as an integral part of this public destination. Heavy use since 2009 coupled with the coastal environment was tough on the pool’s fragile deck and pool finishes.

The Annenberg Community Beach House at Santa Monica Beach is a unique community destination with spectacular views, year-round programming, and spaces for private events and filming. For more info, visit annenbergbeachhouse.com.

The Santa Monica Conservancy has been reporting on a new City Council initiative, adopted on May 11, 2021, to cover the historic murals inside the City Hall lobby with a fabric scrim, and “recontextualize” the cultural history of the Tongva people with reference to our current perspectives on social justice issues.

Photo: Surf Santa Monica

The Conservancy strongly objects to covering the murals, which are important features of our landmarked City Hall, but we support creating new narratives about the artwork. The new narratives should explain the main subject matter of the History mural, which was the first encounter of the 1769 Portola expedition with the Tongva people at the Kuruvungna Sacred Springs, now restored at University High School. The History mural’s images and text refer to evolving layers of our history, including the Rancho period. While the discussion has focused on the Tongva people’s story, there is a broader history at risk here.

We look forward to a process of robust public engagement, with public participation, about expanding the historical narrative and contemporary perspectives on social justice, in the form of new exhibits in City Hall and in the City’s public art program. Exactly what those should be remains to be determined.

The immediate need is to convey our objections to covering the murals. In response to the Conservancy’s previous messages on this issue, other voices have come forward to express their opposition to City Council’s censorship of the historic murals. We would like to share letters written by Terri de la Pena and Sharon Reyes, whose family histories are woven into the fabric of Santa Monica:

Honorable Mayor Himmelrich and Councilmembers:

One of the historic names that appears on the City Hall mural is that of our great great grandfather Francisco Marquez. As native Santa Monicans, we have always been proud of the fact that our ancestor is honored there.

When Mexico gained independence from Spain in the 1820s, the new government secularized the sprawling California mission properties. This allowed Mexican citizens in good standing to be awarded these lands. Rancho Boca de Santa Monica was first granted to Francisco Alvarado and Antonio Machado (also on the mural) in 1827. When they relinquished their rights in 1838, Francisco Marquez and his partner Ysidro Reyes obtained the land grant in June 1839. Since then, several generations of the extended Marquez and Reyes families have lived in Santa Monica and/or neighboring communities.

If the historic City Hall mural is covered up or destroyed, what becomes of our history? The Marquez and Reyes descendants have been in this area for over 180 years. If Santa Monica truly wants to be seen as a diverse community, what about those of us who are land grant descendants, who have lived here all our lives? Our history is part of the Santa Monica story too. Don’t we also have a right to be recognized?

Please do not pick and choose whose history ought to be depicted. Our families have long been here and we deserve to be acknowledged for that. Please do not cover up or delete our ancestors’ names from the mural.

Sincerely,

Terri de la Pena
Marguerite de la Pena
Rose Marie de la Pena
Daniel and Mary Cady
Dianne Marquez

Honorable Mayor Himmelrich and Councilmembers,

My father, Ysidro Reyes, was named after the co-owner of Rancho Boca de Santa Monica.

He was always telling our family this one quote: “So many people say, ‘Who wants to hear about the past?’, but we must know where we’ve been before we can see where we’re going”

When I was about six years old, he took me and my sister to City Hall to see the mural. He pointed out the colorful historical background, including the story of the springs on the University High School campus and how our city was named.

Returning to City Hall as an adult, I was even more struck by the fact that I am related to the men mentioned on the mural. Antonio Machado, Francisco Marquez and Ysidro Reyes. I grew up hearing stories about my great aunt Arcadia Bandini, as well as J.J. Carrillo and Sheriff Eugene Biscailuz, people who were instrumental in Santa Monica’s history.

Even after my family suffered the loss of their land and the total disregard of our heritage,  for over 180 years we have remained woven into the fabric of California history. I was raised to be proud of this history, so why would anyone want to cover it up after it’s installment 84 years ago?

We need to preserve the artist‘s work as well as the history he portrayed. Future generations need to know about the city and how this region came to be.

My cousins and family below are proud of their history and want this mural and story displayed for another 100 plus years. We are stern in our objection to the distasteful covering of the mural.

From several of our Boca de Santa Monica family descendants:

Sincerely,

Sharon Reyes
Leo Marquez
Joe & Paul Villasenor
Ricardo Bandini
Ruben Lucero
Rose Enriquez
Ed Tynan
Ronnie Mendez
Lisa Marquez
Sharon Kilbride
Vincent Olivera
Kevin Reyes Siebuhr
Sean Reyes Siebuhr
Natalie Reyes Scott
Kathleen Reyes Kelly
Michael Serra
Debbie Saenz

Continuing a long tradition of African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) churches in the United States, the First A.M.E. Church, Santa Monica, celebrates its 100^th anniversary this September.

The original African Methodist Episcopal Church was established in 1787 in response to racial discrimination against African American free persons who worshipped at an American Methodist Church in Philadelphia. Richard Allen, a former Delaware enslaved person and the first pastor, joined others to successfully sued for the right of his congregation to exist as an independent institution. He called together other Black Methodists in nearby middle Atlantic communities who also were facing racism to join him and others to seek religious autonomy and form a new denomination. It is the oldest Black denomination in North America.

As the church grew, it established a dozen colleges, a hospital, the first Black corporation, and its own newspaper. More than two million members representing all races and ethnicities are found in America, the Caribbean, England, Canada and Africa.

In the early 1850s the denomination reached the Pacific Coast with churches in Stockton, Sacramento and San Francisco. The Santa Monica church was established in 1921 in the home of Richard and Carrie Dumas. As the membership increased, the congregation moved to the Masonic Hall, located then and now, at 18th Street and Broadway. Conservancy Board member Carolyne Edwards is the granddaughter of Reverend Alfred K. Quinn who was church pastor from 1936 to 1944.

The First A.M.E. Church recently partnered with the City of Santa Monica and others to create two new senior housing complexes, specially designed with social and interactive spaces.

The Conservancy applauds the First A.M.E. Church in Santa Monica for its long-standing service to its members and the larger Santa Monica community.