From Trash to Treasure

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Author: Jessica Stevens

As the last spring showers give way to sunny Los Angeles skies, hillsides of wildflowers are not the only things blooming in Eagle Rock. Planned by a coalition of activists, city officials and local businesses, the Make Art Not Trash community beautification project is bearing fruit as the most recent addition to a unique history of civic works in Northeast LA.

Competing against a record number of applicants, TERA (The Eagle Rock Association) successfully sponsored a bid for a $10,000 Community Beautification Grant from the City of Los Angeles in February 2008. Entitled “Make Art Not Trash,” the project will commission up to 17 local artists to create ceramic mosaic panels for decorative trash receptacles to be placed on the commercial sidewalks of Eagle Rock and Colorado Boulevards.

“The Make Art Not Trash project strives to unite the rich cultural heritage of the community with the creativity of artists and Eagle Rock’s civic-minded business to provide a positive solution to local litter,” TERA President Maria Nazario said.

Administered by the City of Los Angeles Board of Pubic Works, the matching grant, originally known as the Neighborhood Matching Fund, was established in 1998. The grant was modeled from a similar program in Seattle, Washington, and was adapted to meet the needs of diverse communities in the City of Los Angeles. Annually awarding upwards of $800,000, the Office of Community Beautification distributed more than 100 citywide matching grants in the 2007-2008 cycle.

TERA was previously awarded a Community Beautification grant to support the organic Eagle Rockdale Community Garden and Art Park, located at 1045 Rockdale Avenue. The venue serves as a neighborhood nursery, encourages people to grow their own organic foods and frequently hosts environmentally focused community gatherings. The garden is maintained through a partnership with the LA Conservation Corps, a nonprofit youth service group that works on environmental projects across Los Angeles.

“The community of Eagle Rock has a proud tradition of artistic projects that deeply engage the community,” Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar said. “I worked closely with TERA to make sure this project was funded and I am sure this will be another project that culminates in a great success for Eagle Rock.”

Originally proposed by newly elected TERA President Michael Tharp in 2005, the Make Art Not Trash project is largely based on the ArtCans project run by the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council. Beginning its third year, the ArtCans project received a Community Beautification Grant to expand the project in 2007-2008. The LA-32 Neighborhood Council has also adapted the ArtCans model for a grant-winning Clean and Serene ­beautification project. Based within Huizar’s 14th council district, the project plan calls for permanent trash receptacles to improve community appearance for consumers.

“This illustrious group of projects [is] all about increasing the beauty of our city at every turn,” Nazario said in a TERA bulletin. “But [these projects are] most impressive because of the diversity of organizations represented across our great city.”

After partnering with the Center for the Arts Eagle Rock and the Arroyo Arts Collective, TERA got Make Art Not Trash off the ground and into the money. “This project is a culmination of a year of research and hard work, mostly by Pauline Mauro whose vision, tenacity and late-night grant writing have made is possible,” Nazario said.

Mauro, an iPhone-wielding corporate research associate and mother of two, said the ArtCans project foundation was critical in making the grant a reality in Eagle Rock.

“The most important thing was getting in touch with Laura Dwan, who coordinated the Silver Lake project. She served as an ArtCan Angel, providing much need advice on how to get started, materials and budgets,” Mauro said. “She saved us from reinventing the wheel.”

“Everyone has wanted to do this project for years, but there have always been so many obstacles,” Mauro said. “Now, all of a sudden, there are all these great new businesses in Eagle Rock and they totally get it and wanted to make the project happen. We couldn’t have done this four years ago.”

Armed with maps, diagrams and PowerPoint slideshows, Mauro undertook the task of enlisting community and business sponsors to back the project. “I went on a road tour of sorts and made presentations to groups,” she said. “I just gave out lots of information and made things really clear and transparent. You need to have that when you are working together with so many people.”

In total, the $34,000 project was made possible through contributions from the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council, the Eagle Rock Chamber of Commerce and the Eagle Rock Community Preservation & Revitalization Corporation (ERCPR). Nazario said the “art” part of the project comes from the Arroyo Arts Collective and the Eagle Rock Center for the Arts, which have donated their facilities and will help select the winning submissions.

The Make Art Not Trash project committee has issued an open call for artists to design and fabricate four related tile mosaics incorporating Eagle Rock to be attached to the four sides of a cast concrete trash receptacle. Each selected artist will be awarded $300 to create panels and can create up to two separate cans, for a total $600 honorarium. The Center for the Arts Eagle Rock has also made its kiln available for artists choosing to make tiles from scratch.

The winning mosaic panels will be exhibited at the Center for the Arts Eagle Rock prior to their permanent installation. Once in place, TERA has planned a walking tour of Eagle Rock to promote the project and the local business partners that have adopted the new trash cans.

“It was only with everyone’s hard work that this project is now a reality,” Mauro said.

For more information about the application process, call 323-799-1190 or email volunteer@tera90041.org

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