Cathy Salser invites people to help donate to restore the mural.
The iconic Temescal Mural is badly in need of restoration because of water damage and paint peeling.
To refurbish the nearly 500-foot mural across from the Palisades High School Stadium the cost will be about $105,000. As of October 1, there have been 32 donors, who have given $59,298.
Resident Cathy Salser has also been working with Cindy Simon to raise funds said “We thought if we could reach $75,000 by October 8, it would be a solid ‘yes’ for being able to sign a contract and move forward.
“For every gift from October 1 through October 8, a special supporter has pledged to donate $100, so each donation makes an extra difference right now,” Salser said.
“If we can each get 20 folks to contribute by October 8, that would be 100 donors — and a $10,000 extra gift thanks to the challenge,”
All donor names will be included in the mural, as is the tradition (except where donors are asked to remain anonymous). Donors at the $5,000+ level will be recognized on the mural as sponsors.
The donor list shows that in this wealthy upscale community only about nine people have sent checks and about 20 people have paid online. In the future, CTN will print the donor list to give recognition to those who have stepped forward.
Donations are tax-deductible and the link to donate online is: awbw.org/temescal. To support via check, make payable to: AWBW, Memo line: TCMP, and mail to: TCMP, 15332 Antioch Street, # 302, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272.
The mural was first envisioned in 1983, when two Palisades High School students Kat Kozik and David Strauch received permission from the City of Los Angeles to paint a mural of the evolving history of Pacific Palisades, starting with its first people. Fellow students Cathy Salser and Jennifer Wilsey joined them.
The foursome and then Kozik on her own, painted the mural from 1983 to 1990. The mural focuses on the land, animals and first people, and then shifts to a scene depicting the Milky Way, the cosmos and a trickster coyote leaping into the great beyond.
Carlos Rogel of MuralColors speaks with Kat Kozik and Cathy Salser about restoring the mural.