Luis Sanchez has been an artist his whole life. In 2015, San Pedro became his home and ever since, he has adorned this seaside town with several public murals and Department of Transportation or DOT boxes that you can see throughout downtown San Pedro.
The most notable one of his works is the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs commissioned mural Soulful Melody (2016) on the The Lilyan Fierman Walkway along the Warner Grand Theatre’s brick wall. The mural, in tribute to the iconic American jazz age, features musicians in tuxedos and top hats. A flower adorned Billie Holiday stands at a mic, inside a ruby clamshell. Dancers and art deco and art nouveau motifs decorate its borders and other sections.
“I’m here to beautify my community,” said Sanchez. “Psychologically, it lifts people up, diminishes tagging and it keeps me working, going from project to project.”
One of his most recent works, the first two in a series of eight murals, can be seen on the north facing wall of Guest Harbor Inn on Pacific Avenue and 4th Street (formerly the All Star Inn). The first features a ship’s anchor and rope, and a captain’s wheel, awash in deep and light blue tones and white. The other one in the same color scheme and theme depicts a lighthouse and a large compass with a “Welcome” banner across its front, appearing to blow in the harbor winds. Sanchez said he’s honored to paint the murals because the hotel happens to be his neighbor, it makes the community look brighter and brings violence down. He said all of these things are important to him.
The murals will be completed in phases as the hotel goes through remodeling. The owner’s son, Sam Bhakta, who manages the hotel, was in search of an artist to create these works. Linda Grimes, executive director of the Waterfront Arts District, referred Sanchez — who designed each of the murals — to Sam. Due to remodeling, the Guest Harbor Inn will resume phase two of the murals in August. Sanchez said it’s going to look incredible. It was a six month process working with Sam, whose mission his parents are following, is to bring the inn up to date. Sanchez said he’s doing a great job and has a great eye for visualizing what he wants his hotel to look like. That eye must have rubbed off on Sam as his extended family also owns hotels in other parts of Los Angeles.
The rest of the murals may take until the end of 2023 or January 2024 to complete. Sanchez noted there will be a ribbon cutting event for the hotel’s grand opening after all the murals are completed. The date is still to be determined. Sanchez will be designing a T-shirt for the hotel with their logo on it and there will be a silkscreen printer at the event producing his design.
But there’s more. Sanchez is also working on yet another mural at the L.A. Harbor Division Police station on John S. Gibson Blvd. Yolanda Regalado, owner of Sirens Java & Tea, referred him to this project. Sanchez painted the menu board at Siren’s at the corner of 7th and Mesa streets.
For this mural, Sanchez met with Capt. Brent McGuyre of Harbor Division to discuss what the department wanted it to depict. This was a two month process resulting in an all encompassing representation of San Pedro and the Harbor Area’s historical points. The bridge will be in 3D and surrounded by cranes, Cabrillo Beach and the USS Iowa. It also includes the sign for Busy Bee Market, a classic car, the chimney tower off the 110 Freeway emblazoned with “San Pedro” and the lighthouse. It’s very San Pedro, Sanchez said, but it includes the four cities of Wilmington, Harbor Gateway, Harbor City and San Pedro. Sanchez took the actual map outline of those areas and “floated” them onto the mural, featuring a backdrop in a gradation of blue, yellow, green and orange. It can be a sunrise or sunset depending on how one views it. The department was keen on the map idea and went a step further. Since their logo is a pirate, they decided to have Sanchez paint old pirate maps.
“It’s incredibly detailed,” Sanchez said. “Coming up with the concept and designing it is the hardest part.”
He first created a hand drawn rendering that he submitted to the department, which he already painted and will use as his palette. That rendering took him about 10 days, working on it every day, eight hours a day. Sanchez had to present exactly what everything would look like. This way he didn’t have to sketch anything or do a grid, everything was already in place and within scale. This rendering process is efficient for the artist as well, Sanchez noted, because he’s already mixed the colors and knows what the palette is. After the mural is finished, the Harbor Division is considering having it photographed and prints made. Following this, Sanchez will add a few hundred names of the division’s officers on either side of the work.
Sanchez also painted the logo for Good Vibrations Tattoo Parlor on Pacific Avenue. And if you’ve walked down 7th Street just above Pacific, you’ve probably stopped to gaze at The Cellar, an astonishing trompe l’oeil mural of an old-time, Kelly green butcher shop storefront, with hanging meat and sausages, potted flowers in front and other items.
As you can see, Sanchez keeps working and he’s looking forward to doing more projects. In fact, he’d like to paint a “gorgeous” Italian themed mural on the exterior wall of La Bocca Felice restaurant, on 6th and Centre streets.
“It will add a completely different element and help beautify my town and neighborhood,” Sanchez said. “These [murals] are important and significant works for our community.”
Sanchez said the mural painting process for him, like with any other art job or painting, is the best part — and the hardest part — when coming up with a concept or design for a client based on what they want. He always creates a full color rendering for the client to see what the mural would look like when completed. This gives the client a good vision, placement and accuracy of what will be transferred to the wall to paint. A collaborative input follows until the final sketch or rendering is completed to begin painting.
“Unlike many artists, I love commissions and mural work, because it is initiated from another person’s point of view,” Sanchez said. “I am usually given some unrestricted artistic license to do my own thing, but it really has to be made for the client. It always ends up being a really cool, challenging project I would have never thought of or painted otherwise. I find this very exciting and it makes me step up my own skills and game.”
Sanchez is also preparing for another submission, a mural design for the Los Angeles Maritime Institute or LAMI open call from the Waterfront Arts District. And the working artist has even more news. This year, Sanchez is celebrating 25 years of living off of his work — an important milestone — and he’s been working hard for the past several months on a 25th anniversary art book and biography.
Details: http://luissanchezfineart.com
Editors note: An earlier edition of this story incorrectly stated Sanchez painted the decorative walls on the interior Siren’s. The artist painted the menu board at the establishment. We regret the error.