Conservation of América Tropical

Renewed interest in the mural grew along with the rise of the Chicano mural movement in the 1960s, and in the decades that followed there were efforts to conserve and protect it.

In 1988 the Getty Conservation Institute entered into a partnership with El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, a department of the City of Los Angeles to conserve, protect, interpret, and provide public access to América Tropical. The Conservation Institute measured environmental conditions, analyzed the paint and plaster, performed the first phase of conservation treatment, and digitally documented the mural's condition.

Five years after conducting a thorough condition survey in 1997, the Institute stabilized the mural and installed a temporary protection in front of it. Construction of a protective canopy shelter, viewing platform, and interpretive center were completed a decade later, followed by a comprehensive treatment. Due to the location of the mural in a historic district, a public-approval process was necessary for the design of these elements.

1932: David Alfaro Siqueiros paints América Tropical in the center of El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument in Downtown Los Angeles. 1942: The mural has been completely painted over. 1960s: With the rise of the Chicano mural movement, interest in the mural renews and efforts to preserve it follow 1988: The Getty Conservation Institute partners with the City of Los Angeles to conserve and protect the mural. 1990: Stabilization of mural. 1993: Digital documentation of the mural. 1997: The Conservation Institute undertakes a thorough condition survey. 2002: The Institute stabilizes the mural and with help from the J. Paul Getty Museum installs a temporary protective barrier. 2012: The Institute and the City of Los Angeles complete construction of a protective canopy shelter, viewing platform, and interpretive center. A comprehensive treatment is undertaken, and the mural reopens to the public, eighty years after it was first unveiled.

Conservation Institute: Tim Whalen, Susan Macdonald, and Leslie Rainer

Consultants: Altoon and Porter Architects, Brooks + Scarpa Architects, Giancarlo Buzzanca, Pedro Pablo Celedon, Augustín Espinosa, Luis Garza, Shifra Goldman, Crystal Hanley, Scott Haskins, Irene Herner, IQ Magic, Nancy Kaye, Martin Brinkerhoff & Associates, Stephen Paine, Pugh + Scarpa Architects, Silverlake Conservation, Sophie Stewart, Zebala & Partners

City of Los Angeles/El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument: Robert Andrade, Priscilla Bravo, Rushmore Cervantes, Arturo Chavez, Christopher Espinosa, William Estrada, Edgar Garcia, Summer Ibarra, Jean Bruce Poole

Getty: Melissa Abraham, Mahasti Afshar, Neville Agnew, Angelyn Bass, Beril Bicer-Simsir, Mitchell Bishop, Holly Brobst, David Carson, Miguel Angel Corzo, Vincent Daniel, Martha Demas, Michelle Derrick, Anna Flavin, Kiernan Graves, Valerie Greathouse, Geneva Griswold, Guillermo Hernandez, Arlen Heginbotham, Camille Jouen, Kristin Kelly, Herant Khanjian, Eric Lange, Sara Lardinois, Francois Le Blanc, Don Lawrence, Elena Macchioni, Emily MacDonald-Korth, Shin Maekawa, Luann Manning, Kevin Marshall and J.Paul Getty Museum Preparations Department, Thomas McClintock, Jeff Meyer, Tim Michiels, Sophie Mirzaian, Luis Monreal, Barry Munitz, Cassie Myers, Gaetano Palumbo, Francesca Piqué, Frank Preusser, Scott Shipman, Stacey Rain-Strickler, Giulia Russo, David Scott, Michael Schilling, Anna Schoenemann, Irene Sen, Giora Solar, Sarah Tucker, Harold Williams, Anna Zagorski