LEMON GROVE MURAL ARTISTS TO RECEIVE PRESTIGIOUS AWARD

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March 5, 2004 (Lemon Grove)--The painters of the Lemon Grove History Mural, Kathleen Strzelecki and Janne LaValle, will receive the esteemed Ben Dixon Award, the highest award bestowed annually by the Congress of History of San Diego & Imperial Counties, on March 8 between 11 a.m. and noon in the Marina Village Conference Center, 1936 Quivira Way, San Diego.  All are welcome to attend the annual two-day conference, Mar. 7 - 8 (www.congressofhistory.org).

The award recognizes those who have made a long term contribution to enriching and enhancing the cultural and historical resources of our region.  Between 2006 - 2013 Strzelecki and LaValle painted the five-panel history mural, an epic 65 feet wide by 18 feet tall, at 3308 Main Street in the heart of Lemon Grove.  The mural adorns a wall of the historic 1912 original general store, better known since 1980 as the famous Grove Pastry Shop.

The Lemon Grove Historical Society sponsored the history mural and selected the pair of award-winning artists for their special skills:  Strzelecki for her skill in dynamic portraiture and animal painting and LaValle for her exquisite landscape and architectural painting.  These complementary abilities have produced a portrait of a community that is unique among the nation's public art murals.  Lemon Grove's backstory from antiquity to modern times is shown in The World of the Kumeyaay, The Spanish Conquest, The Mexican Empire, The Birth of Lemon Grove in the late 19th Century, and Modern Lemon Grove.

The fifth and final panel was installed on Oct. 24, 2013 and is a "celebration of us" -- a happy explosion of kids and families, local institutions and symbols, pioneer and modern community leaders, important buildings old and new, even the charming "Mobile Lemon."   

Notable are the mural's brush strokes, for this is not a digitally mastered work.  Strzelecki and LaValle stood on scaffolding painting every square inch by hand.  A special formula of multiple coatings protects the work from graffiti and sun and rain.

“The Lemon Grove Historical Society is grateful to the City of Lemon Grove for its enthusiasm and support throughout the eight-year creation of the mural, to many companies and individuals for their continuing financial support, and to the Congress of History for its award and decades of service to history. But most of all the Society hails its two extraordinary, heroic artists-in-residence for delivering public art for the ages,” said Helen Ofield, president of the Lemon Grove Historical Society.


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