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TWENTYNINE PALMS—Mural time is here again, this time with a twist. All the major action will happen in one day!
Join mural artist Art Mortimer of Santa Monica and a team of hi-desert artists as they paint a “Mural in a Day” in Luckie Park, on Saturday, March 23.
The new outdoor mural (Mural #18 in the “Oasis of Murals” series) will honor the 44th Annual Twentynine Palms Boys Basketball Tournament, which is held in March each year and hosts as many as 650 youngsters from California, Nevada, and Arizona.
The mural will be painted on the 21-ft. by 42-ft. east-facing wall of the handball courts in Luckie Park, located off Utah Trail between Two Mile Road and Joe Davis Drive.
Painting will begin at 8 a.m. and a dedication ceremony will be held at the end the all-day painting session, shortly after 5 p.m. Spectators are welcome to watch the mural’s progress during the day and to join the dedication festivities.
Art Mortimer, creator of the Twentynine Palms “Flash Flood” mural in 1998, will be lead artist for this Mural-in-a-Day project. With more than 75 murals to his credit since that fateful day in 1971 when he
painted his first mural (on the side of his house in Santa Monica!), he is considered one of the originators of the mural movement in L.A. and is vice president of the board of directors for the Mural Conservancy of
Los Angeles. His mural work has been featured in exhibitions, photographic collections, newspapers, magazines, books, TV and films across the U.S. and abroad.
One of his notable California murals is a 4-story-high “beach” mural in downtown Santa Monica, commissioned by the Milken Family Fdn. in 1998.
Having also previously painted three of the 10 Mural-in-a-Day projects for Lompoc, CA, and helped on a fourth, he is well prepared for this latest desert challenge and, weather permitting, the mural will come
off without a hitch and right on time.
“I am really looking forward to coming back to Twentynine Palms and spending some time again,” said Mortimer. “Doing a ‘Mural In A Day’ is a tremendous challenge, and a lot of work, but it will be fun to be
back in 29 and reconnecting with the place and the people there.”
On Monday, March 18, Mortimer plans to climb the scaffolding for the first time to begin the preliminary layout of the mural on the blank wall. Layout lines and base coat should be completed by Friday,
March 22, then the wall will be ready for final painting. On Saturday, March 23, the artists will assemble at the mural wall at 7:30 a.m., and painting is due to begin at 8:00.
Hopefully, the last of the colors will be laid-in by 5 p.m.
Two Lompoc artists, who have participated in all 10 of Lompoc’s one-day murals (one each year), have volunteered to assist Mortimer in the Twentynine Palms project.
As for local artists, a call went out in early February for artist-helpers, and nearly 15 hi-desert residents have been selected to paint on the wall during the day-long event.
The mural design features vignettes from the history of the Boys Basketball Tournament—a composite of “snapshots” from 1958 to current years.
In 1958, a local named Bill Proctor formed the Twentynine Palms Coaches Association. That same year, with the help of the Marine Corps Base, he organized the first “29 Palms Boys Basketball Tournament”
consisting of four 8th grade teams. The tournament has since grown, with 90 teams participating in seven different divisions.
Teams throughout the Western United States meet every March in Twentynine Palms to compete, and more than 150 volunteers help to organize, officiate, and host the event.
Some of the local personalities involved in the tournament over the years, who either appear in the mural or have been invited to the dedication as honored guests, include: Bob Cobb, one of the originators of
the Coaches Assn. and the very first tournament (he lives in Indio now); his son Tom Cobb of Twentynine Palms, who participated in the tournament and later became a coach at Twentynine Palms High School; locals Doc
Smeton, Chris Gilbert (who will represent her father, Bill Proctor), Larry Bowden and Randy Councell of the City’s Recreation Dept., and others.
A representative from the General’s office at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center will be present at the dedication, too, since many of the tournament players were housed and fed at the base during its
early years. “At one point the event got so big—too big for our small community—they had to help and were very involved,” says Ray Kinsman of the Action Council for 29 Palms, Inc., sponsor of the mural
project. “They offered the use of their gymnasium for several years, around the time that my kids played in the tournament.”
Another historic aspect of the mural will feature the Hugh “Chief” Jones Award, originated from the Marine Base and given each year for most outstanding 8th grade basketball player from Twentynine Palms.
There have been 43 recipients of that award to date, and some of those are expected to be present at the dedication.
Tournament officials are expected to call a hiatus during this year’s games so that all players and their families can attend the mural dedication festivities.
This mural is sponsored by the Action Council for 29 Palms, Inc., and the City of Twentynine Palms Recreation Department. For more information about the mural and the activities during the day-long
event: contact the Action Council (760)361-2286 or the Chamber of Commerce at 367-3445.
See you at the wall! - –Vickie Waite
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