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Under the Los Angeles Sun: The History and Design of Shelters Used to Protect the Mural América Tropical by David Alfaro Siqueiros

In 1932, David Alfaro Siqueiros painted his monumental public mural, América Tropical, measuring 24 × 6 m, on a south-facing exterior second-story wall of the Italian Hall in downtown Los Angeles. The controversial mural, depicting a crucified figure surmounted by an eagle with outstretched wings and revolutionaries aiming rifles at it in an overgrown jungle setting (Figure 1), was whitewashed soon after it was painted. After decades of exposure to the elements, art historians and artists led early efforts to preserve it, and since 1988 the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) and the City of Los Angeles have worked together on a comprehensive project to conserve, protect, interpret, and provide public access to the mural. In 2012, the mural was conserved, a shelter was erected, and an interpretive center with a viewing platform was installed (Rainer 2013). Since then the GCI has carried out regular monitoring of the mural and the site to assess the effectiveness of the treatment and the performance of the shelter and other infrastructure at the site (Rainer et al. 2016). This paper will focus on the history of shelters that have been used to protect the mural, with an emphasis on the canopy that was erected in 2012 as an integral component of the conservation project, addressing design parameters, performance criteria, and solutions to conservation issues that have arisen post construction.