Through the Goodness Tour, Luc Reynard (left) Benjamin Swatez (top) and Jeremiah Alexia, painted a new mural for Pacific Palisades.
In the midst of burned-out buildings and twisted steel frames, flowers are blooming in the town and now, a new mural is bringing beauty to what had become a desolate landscape in Pacific Palisades.
The mural has been painted in three days by The Goodness Tour which includes Jeremiah Alexis (Glendale), Benjamin Swatez (Quebec City) and Luc Reynaud (Bahamas).
The mural is directly across from the Palisades High School swimming pool on Temescal Canyon Road.
Just as teams come in disaster areas to work with clearing and building, this team focuses on the emotional aspect and includes musicians, artists, filmmakers and therapists who travel to deliver free concerts, paint murals and offer creative workshops for people who are going through extreme adversity.
“For me this is personal,” Alexis said. “I know people who lost homes in Altadena. We were looking for a bridge to span the two communities.”
The mural became a reality when Palisadian Kaye Steinsapir shared her story with a person connected to the World Central Kitchen.
Theatre Palisades Youth member Molly Steinsapir, 12, who was seriously injured in a bike accident, died in February 2021. A mural, with a scene from “Peter Pan” was painted on the side of the Pierson Playhouse, the site of Theatre Palisades. The young girl in the mural was modeled after Molly.
Pierson Playhouse burned: the mural was gone.
That story was shared with The Goodness Tour, who were painting in Altadena. “Once we heard the story, we reached out to Kaye,” Alexis said. “It created a real desire for us.”
Members of The Goodness Tour started gathering other stories from people in this community. “We talk to as many people as we can,” Alexis said and explained they don’t envision a mural, but rather, “This [the art ideas] came from the community.”
On the bottom of the mural is a bobcat. A resident, who had saved a bobcat that had been burned during the fire, told the men the story. The racoons are hanging onto a burned tree, symbolizing the Palisades Fire and living through adversity. There are California poppies, like the ones that bloom each spring in the xeriscape garden on Temescal.
Pacific Palisades is known for its surfers and symbolizing them is Damen Geller, who died in 2018 in a surfing accident. The husband, father, brother and son was known for his kindness and generosity. At the bottom of the skateboard DMG H4 is painted.
There is a dolphin in the mural because “the high school’s mascot is a dolphin and everyone loves dolphins.” Residents have often gone to beach and watched the dolphins swim offshore.
On the far side of the mural is Lifeguard Tower 15, where every summer numerous Palisadian youths train for Junior Lifeguards.
Molly’s face, almost ethereal, is looking over the Palisades scene.
Vista Paint donated the paint for this mural and for the one in Altadena. Artists from Altadena also came to help paint this mural.
“We would love if the community would put up a plaque explaining the story,” Alexis said.
Palisades resident Cathy Salser helped paint poppies in the new mural.
Cathy Salser, who is leading the renovation of the Temescal Canyon Mural, which has now been put on hold, went to the site two days ago. “I helped paint. It’s a lovely team creating this mural.”
Kat Kozik, who painted the Temescal Mural, was on hand the evening of March 23 for the unveiling of this mural.
After the fire, “I was feeling so disconnected,” she said and came down from Northern California just for the day. “This is so positive.”
World Central Kitchen provided food to the about 30 people (and dogs) gathered.
The Good Tours mission is to nourish those affected from these fires through the immense healing power of expressive arts and creativity.
Fund The Climb Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, serves as The Goodness Tour’s fiscal sponsor, receiving donations on our behalf to ensure they remain tax-deductible. https://thegoodnesstour.org/
Lovely story about the mural. Amazing someone saved a burned bobcat!
Thank you for everyone who made the mural possible and so soon after the fire. It certainly lift my spirit in my effort to rebuild, at the tender age of 80 plus, so that generations younger than me can continue to enjoy the beautiful Palisades.