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Earlier this year, it was revealed that the Beverly Center will undergo a $500 million dollar makeover. The details were encouraging. Skylights! Nine new restaurants! A mysterious foodhall that will be called "The Street"! A high-tech parking lot that will actually help drivers locate their cars!
Now comes the most intriguing bit of news of all another bit of intriguing news: according to Racked, the mall will be teaming up with the Hammer Museum to decorate its walls with massive murals curator Jenelle Porter to put pieces of artwork over construction areas as renovations are being done.
These installations will be made by a number of L.A.-based artists. Dave Muller, who does acrylic paintings and incorporates music as a recurring motif in his visuals, will be gracing the sixth level of the mall with a 800-foot mural. According to Racked, his mural will be a kind of panoramic view of the city that features the Watts Tower, the Hollywood sign, and local fauna. Geoff McFetridge, a graphic designer with a knack for bold colors and silkscreened wallpapers, will take over the seventh level with a 1,000-foot visual that depicts a coyote. Other artists will be named in the near future. Porter had worked in association with the Hammer Museum to make the projects happen. The art pieces, which will begin installation today, are expected to be revealed mid-month in July.
The mall's whole package of renovations (including the Skynet parking lot) is slated for completion in November of 2018. The Beverly Center will remain open throughout the construction projects.
Hopefully, the pieces will restore some sense of curiosity and wonder at the shopping center. The site is, after all, the former spot of "Kiddieland," an amusement park that gave Walt Disney some of his ideas for Disneyland. Also, John Lennon used to bring his kid there.
Editor's note: A previous version of this story incorrectly said that the Beverly Center is working with the Hammer Museum. The Hammer is not technically associated with the project. The previous version also did not clarify that the murals will be put over construction areas, not on the actual walls of the Beverly Center. We received clarification from a spokesperson for the Beverly Center.
