Pasadena, CA
The Greetings from Pasadena, California mural is officially complete. After nearly four years of a collaborative community process, it’s the most detailed postcard mural we’ve done to date. The public artwork is located on the South facing wall at 125 Morgan Alley in Old Pasadena right along historic Route 66 (@ Arroyo Pkwy & Colorado Blvd.) This is the final mural in our local series that includes the Art Deco and Travel Decal styles painted a few years back.
The Greetings from Pasadena large letter postcard mural was designed and produced by local artist couple Victor Ving (muralist) and Lisa Beggs (photographer) who are collectively known as ‘Greetings Tour.’ This mural is part of a nationwide series of collectible landmark photo ops across 30 states and counting. The large scale artwork took about 20 days to complete from the wall prep to the final UV protectant & anti-graffiti coating as you can see in the time lapse video below:
Thank you to everyone in the community who contributed to this project. We are extremely appreciative of the donations from Visit Pasadena, Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation, Pasadena 4 Van Halen, The Fine Arts Club of Pasadena & Vice Mayor Steve Madison. In addition, the Rotary Club of Pasadena connected us with volunteers to help pressure wash, patch and prime the wall. Ganahl Lumber, Sherwin Williams & Montana Cans all provided some in-kind donations of supplies. Last but not least, thanks to our amazing assistants Ray Abary & Swank One who spent many days working on some of the detailed portraits within the letters.
A pressure wash removed all of the old flaking paint off the wall
We try our best to prepare way in advance off-site to be as efficient as possible at the wall. Prior to starting the artwork, we thoroughly prepped the wall by pressure washing, patching and adding multiple primer coats. We even called in the experts at Mural Colors to help with their preservation products and additional prep work. The canvas was a South facing wall that was exposed to the strong So-Cal sun all day long, so shade umbrellas were a necessity for this one. While we waited for all of the city permits to clear, we painted an interactive “Mural Loading” progress bar that was updated every week until we got the green light.
Community helping out with the wall prep process
Lisa & Felix with the interactive “Mural Loading” progress bar
Victor: A lot has changed in our lives since our first postcard murals while living full time in a RV circa 2015. Aside from the natural evolution of process and technical abilities, I’ve learned a lot about the public’s perception of our artwork in many communities. It’s been a great opportunity to paint in a place where we can be considered “local” without having to travel hundreds or thousands of miles. We first tested the waters with various donated murals in our adjacent backyard neighborhood of Altadena. In a short amount of time, it helped to spark more interest in public art murals opening up opportunities for other artists as well. One of the biggest lessons I learned on the road is that you need to take the initiative to make things happen. We failed many times trying to get support from our own city’s Public Art Commission but built other wonderful relationships along the way to finally make this project happen independently.
It took a lot of work to find the right location and property owner to agree to hosting this mural. The building’s new property owner Daniel Powell was a supporter of the arts and trusted our vision. One of the goals was to have the different murals in the series spread out across the city geographically. The location we chose was a historical intersection where Route 66 re-routed after the Arroyo Seco Parkway aka Pasadena Freeway was built in 1940. Needless to say, Old Pasadena is also the heart of our city, and we didn’t have any public art murals in the area yet. While scouting the location at Morgan Alley, I noticed a historic plaque embedded in the street dedicated to William Morgan. It turns out he was the builder of Pasadena’s first permanent post office just around the corner. The signs were literally there, confirming this was the perfect spot for our postcard mural canvas!
I usually feel spoiled having a RV at a job site but it was sad to know this may be one of the last times Honeybear (our RV) is around =(. We lived in her full time for a little over 5 years and have created so many memories on our travels. Since she spends most of the year in storage hibernation these days, it may be time to close this chapter in our lives after a decade long journey. We really couldn’t have asked for a more perfect mural painting vehicle/home on wheels.
I’ll admit that I’m not the greatest when it comes to portraits, so I had to call in some of the local masters to help. There’s no shame in making sure our city had the best product possible! At such a small scale, it’s much harder to paint detailed murals like this with all the texture on the wall. Except for the large blocks of background colors, about 95% of the mural is done with Montana Cans spray paint, masking and stencil caps. Most artists will agree this is not the most efficient way to do things but it’s what gives out murals the unique look. I already noted it above but wanted to give Ray Abary (Sierra Madre based artist) another huge shout out for all his help on this mural. From the wall prep & background to the detailed micro-portraits, you really came through and I can’t thank you enough.
It’s always a great experience to meet so many people in the community while creating these murals in public. There was a new shop called Store242 that opened right next door who was run by the nicest couple with Pasadena & Altadena roots. It turned out that one of the owners is actually Bootie Brown - founding member of The Pharcyde and the most humble dude. This was pretty crazy for me since “Passin’ Me By” was one of the first tracks that got me interested in the world of hip-hop. I think I first heard the song in a skate video in the 90’s. You can say it set off a chain reaction that led me into world of graffiti and eventually murals - so thank you Brown! We would run into them daily and they helped us out with access to water, electric and a lot of moral support. If you visit the mural, be sure to check out their shop right next door at 123 Morgan Alley.
When our local friends and family stop by during painting, it’s a nice reminder that we are creating something timeless for the place we now call home. While the long days at the wall get exhausting, the motivation is that we will be changing the visual landscape for generations to come. Without any deadlines other than the lift rental, it’s easy to get lost in endlessly refining the details. But with the entire community as our ultimate client, investing extra time in quality feels like a worthwhile effort in the long run.
How did we decide what goes in the letters?
We collaborated with the Pasadena community to collect ideas for this mural and even hosted a public voting page. You can see the votes that we’ve collected above from those who wanted to get involved in this project. You may notice that Pasadena City Hall and the Colorado Street Bridge were amongst the top votes but we already dedicated two different murals to those specific landmarks. Instead, we decided to focus more on the heritage and humanities of Pasadena. We really tried our best to fit as much as possible into this mural while keeping it timeless!
P - My favorite view from our home in Northwest Pasadena is the view of the San Gabriel Mountains at sunset. With the exception of some antennas and telescope structures up in Mt Wilson, I would imagine this is the same view that the indigenous tribes and original settlers looked up and saw from our Crown City. In the foreground, I featured oranges as a nod to the historic citrus industry that helped shape the foundation of this city.
A (First) - The world famous Rose Bowl Stadium is an iconic venue that has put Pasadena on the map as a global tourism destination. Instead of focusing on the yearly Rose Bowl football game played here, we wanted to pay tribute to their contributions to the arts and culture of our city throughout the year. The legendary Rose Bowl Flea Market is one of the world’s largest flea markets held the second Sunday of every month. This concept allowed us to hide in several Pasadena-themed elements such as a giant Cheeseburger, vintage Route 66 T-shirt, Tongva woven basket as well as a tribute to Pasadena’s own Phoebe Bridgers in her skeleton onesie shopping in the foreground.
S - The world needs no introduction to hall of fame sports legend Jackie Robinson who was raised here in Pasadena. I grew up in Queens, NY where Jackie also lived during the height of his career playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers. In 1958, the franchise made its historic move to Los Angeles, and fittingly, the Dodgers claimed the 2024 World Series title while we were creating this mural! In addition to Jackie, we wanted to spotlight his older brother “Mack” Robinson who may not have been as internationally known. He was a record breaking track and field athlete and silver medalist in the 1936 Summer Olympics. Outside of sports, he was a hard working community leader in Pasadena who fought hard to improve quality of life in this city.
A (Second) - The ability to escape from an urban setting into the wilderness of the Angeles National Forest within minutes is a unique characteristic of living in Pasadena. Nature has the ability to provide artists with so much inspiration and luckily we have it all at our fingertips. Eaton Canyon Falls is a very popular local trail and we hope that everyone who visits does so respectfully. We had to sneak in a self portrait of our family (Lisa, Felix & Victor) looking at the waterfall.
D - The Gamble House is an icon of American Arts and Crafts style architecture. This was a fitting tribute to all of the suburban residential areas of Pasadena that still have many historic Craftsman homes. “Built for David and Mary Gamble of the Procter and Gamble Company, the house is the most complete and original example of the work of architects Charles and Henry Greene.” The property was also the filming location for Doc’s home and garage in the movie Back to The Future. To add some more Pasadena flair, we threw in some green parrots flying into the sunset and a few peacocks on the front lawn!
E - We featured Caltech in this letter for their role as a world leader in science and technology. It’s humbling to know that so many brilliant minds (including Albert Einstein) have had their presence right here at the Pasadena campus. There’s a portrait of Jack Parsons in the foreground who was a co-founder of NASA’s JPL that’s managed by Caltech. He lived an interesting life as an American rocket engineer, chemist, and occultist. There was a recent multi-part podcast all about his life if you want to do a deeper dive.
N - Eddie Van Halen Tribute (1955-2020) The Van Halen brothers (Eddie & Alex) grew up in Pasadena on Las Lunas St. They are alumni of Pasadena High School and also attended Pasadena City College, where they met David Lee Roth and Michael Anthony, who would later join their band. They left a lasting legacy in the world of music and considered one of the most important and influential rock bands of all time.
A - A Pasadena themed mural wouldn’t be complete without featuring the New Year’s Rose Parade going down Colorado Blvd. (Route 66.) The parade route passes right by the building that the mural is painted on in Old Town. We painted the Rose Court Float featuring the 2019 Rose Queen Louise Deser Siskel. She was the first LGBT+, Jewish & Glasses wearing Rose Queen!
Press:
Local News Pasadena - Victor Ving: Nearly Off the Wall
Letter Guide:
P — San Gabriel Mountains & Historic Orange Groves
A — Rose Bowl Flea Market w/ Cheeseburger, Route 66 & Phoebe Bridgers
S— Jackie & Mack Robinson
A — Eaton Canyon Falls w/ Self Portrait of Artist Family
D — Gamble House w/ Green Parrots & Peacocks
E — Caltech Hall & Jack Parsons
N — Eddie Van Halen
A — Rose Court Float at Rose Parade & Roses
Year: 2024
Mural Size: 14'H x 22’W
Location: 125 Morgan Alley, Pasadena, CA 91105 (Intersection of Colorado Blvd & Arroyo Pkwy)
Alternate address: 130 E Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91105 (South side of Building)
