Take a big blank wall, the good folks at Convalescent Aid Society, and internationally known mural artist Victor Ving. Add paint. Mix well. And the spectacular mural above is what you get.
This mural, at 3255 E. Foothill, is a beautiful addition to an otherwise dull stretch of road. It is one of the best things to happen here in years. So what’s this all about?
Let’s start with the players.
First, the building is home to the venerable Convalescent Aid Society. Since 1923, CAS has provided wheelchairs and an array of medical equipment to those in need. CEO Mark Waterson puts it simply, “we help as many people as we can with as few barriers as we can.” Right now more than 14,000 people are relying on CAS for home medical equipment. That’s a lot of years, a lot of people served and a whole lot of wheelchairs. A century of good work deserved to be marked.
The other key player is a Pasadena resident who also brings a bit of a history. Victor Ving grew up in New York City and became quite good at spray painting walls — graffiti that is. He graduated to running a gallery then took his show on the road. Since 2015, he and his wife, Lisa Beggs, have gone all over the world painting murals for communities. Their bread and butter is creating “meaningful murals that seamlessly weave together local culture, history, landmarks, and nature.” I like that. CAS did too.
So, those are the players. CAS supplied the canvas.
CAS is located in a nondescript 1940’s-era building near the corner of Foothill Blvd. and Sierra Madre Villa Ave. Years ago, the CAS building was used as a basket and rug shop. So when I say the building’s nondescript, I’m not kidding. I drove by it for years and never noticed it. But, they do have a wall. A big blank wall. On the east side of the CAS building is a massive blank wall that desperately needed paint.
Now CAS could have gone down the street to Home Depot and picked up a dozen gallons of charcoal gray. But, they decided to do something different, something special to mark 100 years in Pasadena and, true to form, give something back to the community they have served for so long.
The mural is a beautiful blending of iconic Pasadena scenes sweeping across the Colorado Street Bridge, Route 66, the Castle Green, and the Rose Bowl. The ever-present San Gabriel Mountains are depicted as are other natural elements including oranges and roses. CAS, part of the local scene for a century, placed it’s own stamp on the mural in the depiction of the wheelchair user on the mural’s right side. If you look closely, you will see the faint outlines of the letters C, A and S. Insiders will also know that the Castle Green depiction is a nod to the first CAS location which was located on Fair Oaks across from the Castle.
The mural is visible to thousands of people each day. The CAS building is on Foothill Blvd. just west of the intersection of Foothill and Sierra Madre Villa Ave. As locals know, Foothill is one of the busiest streets around and the traffic count for cars passing by CAS is about 20,000 cars per day. The mural is also visible from Sierra Madre Villa Ave. so add to that about 12,000 cars a day traffic count on SMV and this mural touches the daily lives of thousands.
I enjoy the mural immensley. I have driven by it at least a hundred times by now. I still look for it whenever I am near the Foothill/SMV intersection. I know the mural’s images well and it is good to be reminded of the history and beauty of the city.
A big thank you to CAS for a great mural that makes a beautiful addition to the east Pasadena landscape and is now a landmark for people travelling on Foothill Blvd. and Sierra Madre Villa Ave.
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