Public Art Works in the Los Angeles Historic Core
This page covers Los Angeles Street on the east to Hill Street on the west, and south to the Garment District and Flower Mart. This page also includes information about public art works at the Flower Mart on Wall Street. Of related historic interest are also Bunker Hill, Union Station and Historic El Pueblo. Do not reproduce information from this site without acknowledgement of the artists and their works, or of the authors of this site.
East of Main Street
- Nick Gillick & Jeffrey Eyster, Bicycle Rack, 1996 (The Bike Stops Here project). Sci-Arc and LADOT. Corner of Maple and 6th, in front of the Los Angeles Central Police Station
- Ben Meyer, To Protect and To Serve, 1977. Los Angeles Central Police Station, 251 East 6th Street. Mosaic tile. Detail of the mural.
- J. Michael Walker, I Am My Own Rainbow, 2002. Weingart Center for the Homeless, 566 S. San Pedro St.
- Detail of the Weingart Center for the Homeless building, 566 S. San Pedro St.
- Yreina Cervantez and Michael Schnorr, What I see Can Be Me, 1993. SPARC mural. 5th between Towne and Crocker.
- Fence with personal writing, 5th at Crocker. (1/2004)
- Thread spool, Garmet District. San Pedro street north of Pico.
- Bendix sign, Maple and 12th streets.
Main St.
Spring St.
-
Peter Shelton, sixbeaststwomonkeys, 2009. Spring Street at First, bordering the headquarters of the Los Angeles Police Department.
- Los Angeles Times Building, Spring, 1st, and Broadway. Gordon B. Kaufmann, 1931-1935; Rowland H. Crawford, 1948 (10 story addition on the northwest corner of South Spring Street and West 3rd Street); William L. Pereira, 1970-1973 (6 story addition to the west of the original building).
- Patrick Bambrough and SCI-Arc, Bike Rack, 1996. Los Angeles Times building, 1st Street.
- Tony Sheets, Los Angeles Times Garage
- Stained glass at the lobby of Banco Popular, formerly known as the Herman W. Hellman Building (1903), 354 S. Spring St. Another example of stained glass ceiling at this location. This building is a historic landmark.
- Tony Sheets, Spirit of Growth, Broadway Spring Center garage, 1988-1989 (CRA%). 331 S. Spring.
- Ronald Reagan State Building, 300 Spring St. Welton Becket Assosciates, 1990. Art works sponsored by the Los Angeles State Building Authority.
- Los Angeles Design Center, originally the Title Insurance and Trust Company building. Spring and 4th.
- In Creative Unity Art, Mural, Dedicated to the People of Los Angeles, 1998. 4th St. and Spring St. Temporary, details as of 4/98. (CRA)
- Winged lion on the facade of Hotel Alexandria (John Parkinson, 1906), 5th street.
- Samuel Lunden, John Parkinson, Donald Parkinson, Los Angeles Stock Exchange, 1929. Spring Street and 6th. The facade of the building features bas reliefs by Salvatore Cartaino Scarpitta depicting Finance, Production, and Research and Discovery.
- Background information on the bas-relief sculptures above the main entrance
- A short biography of the artist
- A short bibliography on the bas-relief sculptures
- Doors, of the Stock Exchange building
Broadway St.
- Tony Sheets, Los Angeles Times Garage
- Windows on Los Angeles. Temporary construction-site mural, City Hall, 1st and Broadway, 1999.
- Victor Clothing Company has beautiful external and internal murals by several LA muralists. 242 South Broadway.
- Bradbury Building and Biddy Mason Park, Broadway and 3rd St.
- Louis Molina and SCI-Arc, Pig Sculpture Bicycle Rack, entry to Central Farmer's Market, Broadway and 3rd St., west of Bradbury Building.
- Joseph Mora, sculpture on the Million Dollar Theater, 1918. Albert C. Martin and William Lee Wollett, architects. 307 S. Broadway.
- Johanna Poethig, Calle de la Eternidad, Street of Eternity mural, 1992-1993. 351 S. Broadway. (SPARC)
- Leo Limon, Diane Gamboa, Yolanda Gonzalez, Imagine Culture, 1996. 445 S. Broadway. (CRA)
- Domingo Mora and Joseph Mora, "Muses of Vaudeville", Palace Theater, 1911. 624 S. Broadway.
- Arthur D. Pizzinat, Sr., designer, Broadway sidewalk, 1935, executed by the Venetian Terrazzo and Mosaic Co. In front of Clifton's Cafeteria,
648 S. Broadway. The images represent icons of Los Angeles and Southern California. This historic terrazo effect was enchanced by tile sections designed by Frank Romero in the 1980s,
as part of the Broadway Sidewalk Project (see below).
- Bas relief, building on the west side of Broadway, between 6th and 5th Streets. Looks like Diana or Artemis.
- Frank Romero, Tiled sidewalks, 7th St. and Broadway and 4th St. and Broadway. 1978-1985. (CRA%)
- Examples of other terrazzo sidewalks, Broadway, 1930s.
- History of theaters on Broadway, from a brochure published by the Los Angeles Conservancy in 1986.
Hill St.
- Fun Hut Mural. On the exterior of Club Fantasy. Hill and 4th.
- Mosaics, 1926. Ravenna Mosaics. Subway Terminal Building, 417 S. Hill St.
- Jeff Greene's trompe l'oeil mural depicting men painting a building on scaffolds (4th St. and Hill).
- Angels Flight Railway
- A bit of history on Angels Flight, courtesy of the USC Regional History Center
- Guide to the Restoration of Angels Flight.
- Kim Abeles, Hill Street Avenida at Grand Central Market, Hill Street between 3rd and 4th, commissioned by Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority:
- Nicole Turner, Grand Central Market mural. Hill Street, between 3rd and 4th
- Tim Hawkinson, Interior of "Historic Clock Tower", 1994. Grand Central Market parking structure, Hill and 3rd. (CRA%)
- St. Vincent's Court marker, St. Vincent place, between Hill/Broadway and 6th/7th Streets.
- Ceiling mural, Warner Brothers Theatre, Hill and 7th (401 West 7th Street).
Olive St.
Garment District/Flower Mart Area
This area is usually defined by 7th St. (north), Wall St. (east), 17th St. (south) and Main St. (west), although some of the works listed fall slightly on the outside.
- Victor diSuvero and Judith Harper, Untitled (Lady Liberty Facing West), 1987. 843 S. Los Angeles Street.
- Robin Brailsford, Falling Water, 2006. Maxxam Enterprises, Pico and Maple streets.
- Robin Brailsford, Lips, 2006. Maxxam Enterprises, 12th and Crocker streets.
- Mosaic spheres, 2008. Traffic island between Main, Spring and 9th Streets.
- Jonathan Borofsky, Hammering Man, 1988, California Mart, 9th St. and Main.
- Viola Frey, Arrogant Man and Surprised Woman, 1986. California Mart patio, 9th St. and Main.
- Grillwork on the facade of the Ninth and Broadway Building, 1929. Claud Beelman, architect.
- Common Threads Artists, Hidden Labor; Uncovering L.A.'s Garment Industry. Grand and 7th, came down in May 1998.
- Gary Lloyd, 4D-KAXE, 1983. 814 S. Spring Street.
- Elizabeth Garrison and Victor Henderson, Fifty One Bees, 1996. 755 S. Wall Street. (CRA) Another detail of the mural
- Blue McRight and Warren Wagner, Hope Street Terminus: The Garden of Conversion, 1996. Hope and 17th St. (CRA)
- Jacqueline Dreager, Venice/Hope Park, 2003. Venice and Hope streets.
To Public Art in Downtown Los Angeles
Photos taken by Linda McCann and Ruth Wallach
Page maintained by Ruth Wallach, USC Libraries2/2016