{"id":593,"date":"2025-11-07T19:15:26","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T03:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/la2026\/?page_id=593"},"modified":"2026-02-19T18:30:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T02:30:22","slug":"america-tropical-mural","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/la2026\/america-tropical-mural\/","title":{"rendered":"On view at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n \n
\n \n
\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n\n \n \n
\n\n \n

\n Roberto Berdecio in front of Am\u00e9rica Tropical mural\n <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
\n\n \n

Months after Los Angeles’s transformation for the 1932 Summer Olympics, which showcased the U.S. to international visitors, Mexican artist David Alfaro Siqueiros was commissioned by Plaza Art Center to paint a new mural on Olvera Street. His patrons envisioned a monumental portrayal of Latin America that would fit into their romanticized and nostalgic version of a Mexican marketplace. According to Siqueiros, the Olvera Street leaders wanted a mural filled with “happy men, surrounded by palms and parrots where fruit voluntarily detached itself to fall into the mouths of the happy mortals.”<\/p>\n

The mural that Siquerios and his team of painters unveiled in October 1932 was the opposite of the planned idyllic scene. The Los Angeles Public Library describes the scene: \u201con the right, two men crouched on a rooftop carrying guns. An indigenous farm worker was crucified on a double-cross in the mural’s center. Above the cross perched an eagle painted to deliberately evoke the eagle on United States money.\u201d<\/p>\n

The controversial mural was whitewashed in 1933. In the 1970\u2019s historians and civic leaders began efforts to restore the mural. In the late 1980s, the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) and the City of Los Angeles began work to conserve and protect the mural while making it publicly accessible. The GCI and the City reopened the mural to the public, along with a viewing platform and interpretive center, in 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\n\n \n
\n
\n \n \n
\n\n \n

Roberto Berdecio, an associate of David Alfaro Siqueiros in the 1930\u2019s, standing in front of Am\u00e9rica Tropical just after its completion. Mural: \u00a9 2012 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York\/SOMAAP, Mexico City. Photo: The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n \n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\n\n \n
\n \n
\n \n \n
\n\n \n \n \n\n View “Ord\u2019s first map of the city of Los Angeles, drawn in August 29, 1849.” \n <\/svg>\n<\/a>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
\n\n \n \n \n\n View “All Americans Should Know This.” \n <\/svg>\n<\/a>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
\n\n \n \n \n\n Calendar of all LA2026 Humanities Discussions. \n <\/svg>\n<\/a>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
\n\n \n \n \n\n Return to “La Plaza de Cultura y Artes and El Pueblo de Los Angeles.” \n <\/svg>\n<\/a>\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":982,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-593","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOn view at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes - LA2026<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n