PIECE | The Muses: A Celebration of a Blossoming Imagination
The Muses: A Celebration of a Blossoming Imagination
Category: Mural
Collection: Luther Burbank Center Art Collection
Location: Luther Burbank Center for the Arts
LOCATION | Art Walk
DESCRIPTION | 2023, Acrylic on canvas
DIMENSIONS | 19′ x 19′
ARTIST | Maria de Los Angeles
LBC Permanent collection
About the Mural Project
As a gift to the North Bay, Luther Burbank Center for the Arts commissioned renowned artist Maria de Los Angeles to install two large-scale outdoor murals for free, year-round public viewing. The striking, vibrant murals represent the artist’s intricate and colorful celebration of community, cultural diversity, and education—values that also reflect LBC’s commitment to the community. The mural project is LBC’s second collaboration with de Los Angeles, a former long-time resident of Santa Rosa, who also partnered with LBC on some of its early arts camps.
The Muses: A Celebration of a Blossoming Imagination uses a modern fresco process and celebrates the artistic spirit by incorporating elements highlighting the performing arts—music, dance, theater, speakers, and comedy. It is the largest of the artist’s murals installed in Sonoma County to date.
The murals project was made possible with generous support from the following:
Susan and Alan Preston
Steve and Nancy Oliver
Sherry and Pete Swayne
Karen and Mike Bergin
Jack Leissring
Chris and Amy Hunsberger
Robi McMinn, honoring Bobbi Gardner
Lauren and Bruce Morrison
Rick Nowlin and Don Strand
Robin Seltzer and Bill Wertzberger
Ellen and Chuck Wear
Anita Wiglesworth
About the Artist
An American artist focusing on drawing, painting, printmaking, and wearable sculptures, Maria de Los Angeles (@delosangelesart) was born in Mexico and raised in Sonoma County. She is the full-time Critic and Assistant Director of Painting and Printmaking at the Yale School of Art.
Artist Statement
My multidisciplinary studio practice includes drawing, painting, installation, performance, and muralism. The main themes in my work are about exploring belonging and identity at the intersection of the personal and universal. It is rooted in my immigrant experience in the United States. Growing up undocumented had a transforming impact on my sense of belonging and worldview. My two-dimensional works convey social commentary, personal stories, and universal experiences using narrative and abstraction.
Some of my work is autobiographical, others are inspired by the community, family, and the news. I begin by drawing from my imagination and then, later, from photographs, combining the two to create layered narratives. I like the meaning in my work to unfold slowly, with people discovering elements and moments they didn’t see at first. I think about time, and the time needed to fully take in the emotional and psychological impact of a painting and its story. My images are layered with a combination of myth, actual situations, culture and political symbols, spirituality, and sometimes humor. I often contemplate how myth, allegory, and individual experience merge to create our perspectives. I’m highly influenced by magic realism, the feminist movement, and political art.
Mixed media drawing installations have become a way to see a mural before it has been composed. The idea of many voices coming together is how I think about the collaboration. When projects are being created in collaboration with community, the process is similar. A mural is community and proof that we can do something together and bring our range of experiences to the piece.
Date created:: 2023
Medium type: 19' x 19'