After checking out the famed Music Box Steps in Silver Lake, we headed over to Historic Filipino Town (Hi-Fi)...passing by Bert's former college fave, Tommy's on Rampart...
which was a few short minutes away from a mural we last visited back in 2010 (post linked at the end)...
located in Unidad Park...
The mural, painted twenty years ago, is formally known as "Gintong Kasaysayan, Gintong Pamana" (A Glorious History, a Golden Legacy" by Filipino American artist, Eliseo Art Silva). In 1996, Bert, Superman and I had the pleasure of meeting Eliseo and were given a personal tour of the mural. The property at the time was on the side of a post office (not sure if it is still a post office) and the plot of land was a community garden.
Over the years, the park was built for the public to enjoy. Bert and I were happy to see it as a park when we visited five years ago. This time, we had TC with us because we wanted her to finally see the mural in person (we have a signed and framed copy of it at home, bought 20 years ago)...
We wanted TC to learn about our rich contributions to the U.S.
The day of our visit, an African American man was taking photos and had his motorcycle parked smack in the middle of the concrete area. I ended up talking to him about certain parts of the mural, identifying several key figures (please see my post linked at the end which explains each section). He was a bike courier in DTLA (downtown LA) and had the day off. In his spare time, he takes photos of art throughout the city. He thought that day it would be nice to finally visit a park he sees all the time,
The mural was just as vibrant as I remembered. Back in 2010 (our last visit), it hadn't yet been restored. It was restored in 2012 and parts of the mural were painted over with added "newer" historical figures.
The middle portion is my favorite because it includes labor leaders Philipp VeraCruz and Larry Itliong (the two men next to the Philippine sun emblem).
Newer parts of the mural:
Eliseo painted over the old section which formerly had young children performing the "mano po", a gesture of blessing" their elders by placing their elder's hand to their foreheads. In its place are stars with famous Filipino American names, a depiction of the Filipino American WWII Veteran's Memorial (link to our visit in 2010 here)
The names of the folks on the bottom border are Filipino Americans (local to LA) in various fields.
Barbara Luna was an actress in the 60's (in addition to the movies, she was in the "Mirror Mirror" episode in the original Star Trek)...She was a total babe too.
Sugar Pie de Santo, of Filipino and African American descent, was an R&B singer in the 1950's and 60s.
The circular seating area is the same as the one built into Unidad Park. The girl with the microphone is a recent addition, Jessica Sanchez (a local Chula Vistan who was the runner up in American Idol, 2012).
The girl with the chain around her neck is Charice Pempengco, who starred in "Glee" (a show I've never and will never watch). My daughter said that Charise is now transgender! Charice actually came out as gay during an interview with Oprah last year.
The heart with the black and white photo? Eliseo's parents' wedding picture. The couple holding a young boy? Eliseo's parents with Eliseo as a young boy. I love how he added himself in there. And yeah, that is Manny Pacquiao (who I don't consider Filipino American)...
Below, Apl de Ap (Alan Pineda), Filipino/African American musician and singer in the group, the Black Eyed Peas.
It was cool seeing the new additions this time around...
Previous visit to the mural (prior to the 2011 restoration):
"Hi-Fi - Part 1: Mural "Gintong Kasaysayan, Gintong Pamana" April 2010
Articles/links:
"Mural- Spotlight on Filipino Americans" LA Times, Feb 12, 2012
"Los Angeles Historic Filipinotown turns ten, what's changed" Www.KCET.org, Aug 2, 2012
muralconservancy.org (has a shot from when it was still a garden)
"Pinoy mural artist to receive 2012 Fil-Am heritage achievement award in U.S." www.gmanetwork.com, Oct 11, 2012
Facebook page for Eliseo Art Silva
Unidad Park
1660 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026
Reviews from yelp
Our next stop would be in Burbank to make another pop culture pilgrimage...
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