LADOT Decorative Crosswalk
LADOT Decorative Crosswalk
In collaboration with Best Start Wilmington & LA Walks
The story behind this crosswalk is a three-year-long saga that underscores how community-led advocacy, boosted by training and guidance from First 5 LA, Best Start Wilmington, and ourselves (Made), pushed through the red tape and the slow-moving wheels of government bureaucracy to implement an intersection mural in the city of Wilmington.
Service:
Mural Design, Graphic Design, Videography, and Photography
Partners:
Los Angeles Walks, First 5 Los Angeles, Best Start Wilmington, The Nonprofit Partnership (TNP), Providence Little Company of Mary, and LADOT
Challenge:
To create an intersection mural that celebrates and represents the residents of the city of Wilmington and its culture through art with the goal to direct drivers' attention and focus to the road.
• 24-inch white ladder markings must remain intact – decoration is permitted only between the markings
• 6 colors maximum per crosswalk
• Colored lines, squares, or rectangles only – no detailed pictures, drawings, words, or symbols
What we did:
Design Guidance, Design Development, Design Preparation, Mural Design with Community Collaboration, and Project Management
The Wooden Ship Wheel pays homage to Phineas Banning, an American Businessman, financier and entrepreneur. Known as "The Father of the Port of Los Angeles," he was one of the founders of the town of Wilmington, here in Los Angeles. Although Phineas Banning passed in 1885, his sons with federal approval were able to fund the Port of Los Angeles at San Pedro Bay.
Banning House, also known as the General Phineas Banning Residence Museum, is a historic Greek Revival-Victorian home in the Wilmington section of Los Angeles, California. Built in 1863 by Phineas Banning near the original San Pedro Bay, it remained in the Banning family until 1925 and has been owned by the City of Los Angeles since 1927. Now, the Banning Museum sits in the middle of Banning Park for the community of Wilmington to enjoy.
The Vincent Thomas Bridge is a 1,500-foot-long suspension bridge, crossing Los Angeles Harbor, linking San Pedro with Terminal Island. If you've ever made your way down South on the 110 freeway, you'll eventually stumble upon bridge before crossing into the city of Long Beach.
To the right of the bridge in San Pedro, you'll find Battleship USS Iowa. Now a museum, it highlights Battleship USS Iowa as it served our country in WWII, Korea, and the Cold War. Today, the historic U.S. Navy ship is an iconic Los Angeles landmark and considered one of the region’s best outdoor museums for families and visitors of all ages.
The project started when Los Angeles Walks, a nonprofit that advocates for safer, walkable streets, alerted Best Start community leaders to a city grant opportunity for safer streets. Best Start Wilmington is a signature First 5 LA investment that aims to cultivate community partnerships where parents and residents can become powerful catalysts to achieve positive outcomes for families in five underserved regions around L.A. County.
A priority in Wilmington was the congested intersection of Figueroa and L streets, which has historically seen many traffic accidents and fatalities. Figueroa is a six-lane street that runs parallel to the Harbor (110) Freeway and often serves as an alternate route for truck traffic to and from nearby oil terminals as well as the Port of Los Angeles, one of the nation’s busiest seaports. L Street is the four-lane main entrance to L.A. Harbor College, which also hosts the popular Harbor Swap Meet on weekends.
This Decorative Crosswalk project holds a special place in our hearts because it laid the foundation and introduced us to amazing people and organizations. A huge thank you to LA Walks, Best Start Wilmington, First 5 LA, The Nonprofit Partnership (TNP), Providence Little Company of Mary, and the residents of the beautiful city of Wilmington.
