Los Angeles County is a truly unique place that contains a wide variety of ecosystems. From the start of the Mojave Desert in Palmdale to the remaining wetlands of Ballona Creek to the many creeks and rivers zones still flowing through this county, LA is a wild place! Los Angeles is a biodiversity hotspot with over 4,000 species of plants and animals calling LA County their home along with ten million humans. LA is located within the Southern California Floristic Provence where over half the native plants are endemic, meaning they can only be found here in Southern California and nowhere else in the world!
And did you know that between federal, state, or city owned parks and preserves nearly one third of this county is public land? For instance, Griffith Park is the nations largest wilderness park within city limits, The Santa Monica National Recreation Area is the world's largest urban national park, and to the East there is a mountain wonderland to be found in the San Gabriel National Monument!
Despite all these amazing facts about LA County it is also true that "nature" can sometimes feel very far away to those living here and because our biodiversity is so unique it is often misunderstood since there is nowhere else like it in the USA. That's why I was so excited when in the Spring of 2023 I got to design and paint a mural for America's Great Outdoors that focused on the urban-wildlands interface and showcase the interweaving of mountains and watersheds within our urban areas.
In Spring of 2023 I was fortunate to meet Jane E. Baumgartner, the volunteer organizer for AGO, at the Bass Pro Shop where she was tabling for Fisheries Resource Volunteers. As a film worker my work was impacted by the AMPTP dragging their feet in negotiating with the fair requests of the Writer's Guild and so I found myself in a unique position to put my painting skills to good use when Jane told me they were looking for someone to paint a mural at America's Great Outdoors (AGO) at the LA County Fairgrounds. Below is the 70 ft. long wall that we got to turn into a piece of art dedicated to our local mountains and watersheds.
Together with the amazing Stephanie Hawkins (who volunteered many talents to many different areas of AGO) and several other IATSE Local 729 Set Painters who were also out of work (due to the AMPTP producers causing a work slow down) we painted the 70 ft. long wall in an area where local non-profits would be tabling during the fair. My old employer, Lexington- A Nassal Company, was instrumental in getting very high quality theme park paint to us as a donation fo which i am so grateful.
Weaved throughout several weeks of picking up set painting work and getting chances to get out to the fairgrounds we painted for a total of twelve days to finish the 70 ft. wall. We were so happy to have a meaningful project to keep our minds off the uncertainty of the ongoing Writer's Guild strike and the impending Actor's Equity stike.
The finished mural is a celebration of all the amazing mountains, rivers, flora, and fauna that call LA County their home.
And now you can take a bit of this mural with you to share with your friends or family! For the 2024 LA Riverfest put on by Friends of the LA River I made a free coloring page to share with those attending the festival who stopped by my LA Is Not A Desert booth.
This page offers some of the amazing facts I shared in this post about the incredible biodiversity of Los Angeles and offers you a chance to color in our mountain ranges in the colors you see in them. The prompts also encourage you to add your favorite native plants and animals to the page as well. Feel free to download this coloring page pictured above and use for a family activity or for outdoor teaching purposes!
See the mural from start to finish in just under two minutes in video above!
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