Artists present aesthetic designs for Sepulveda Bl walls

Before an audience of approximately a dozen attendees, as well as several Community Advisory Committee (CAC) members, the two artists responsible for the aesthetic designs for the 1720/1730 walls on Sepulveda Bl presented their initial concepts April 8.

Brian Howe describes one of the finer points of the aesthetic designs for the 1720/1730 walls on Sepulveda Bl.

Brian Howe and Freya Bardell, the principals of Greenmeme, answered questions from the audience and described how they wanted to create a design that spanned both walls, presenting a concept to the thousands of Angelinos who pass the walls daily.

Greenmeme was selected by the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs to add an art component to the two walls being reconstructed later this year.

The walls, which will total over 1,200 feet in length, sit on City of Los Angeles land between Montana Av and Sunset Bl. (To better identify the walls, the I-405 project team refers to them as 1720 and 1730, with 1720 being the wall south of Homedale Dr.)

Greenmeme seeks to wind a dense variety of images across the walls, some of which will rise to 45 feet. When viewed at a distance, the images resemble lace draped over a table. When observed more closely, the “lace” contains dozens of repeated images.

During and after their presentations, Bardell and Howe gathered suggestions from audience members to integrate into their final plan. Greenmeme (“meme” rhymes with "cream”) hopes community members will share iconic images and artifacts that would be woven into the “lace.”

Since the April 8 meeting, Bardell and Howe have received additional comments from community members. Some of these suggestions will be incorporated into the evolving design. That design will be presented to the CAC at its next meeting, April 22.

The final plan will be presented May 27 at that month’s CAC meeting. The Department of Cultural Affairs then approves the final design.

An exploration of the process the Greenmeme artists used in developing their concepts is available on the I-405 Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project website.

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Becky Snodgrass, Public Art Manager, City of Los Angeles, describes the selection process for choosing a firm to develop aesthetic designs for the 1720/1730 walls on Sepulveda Bl.

Freya Bardell listens to Debbie Nussbaum, a Community Advisory Committee member, describe elements of Sepulveda Pass history that might be reflected in the reconstructed walls on Sepulveda Bl.

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