Rip Cronk graduated with Masters Degree in Fine Art from the University of New Mexico, Rip Cronk moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he opened a studio at The Foundry. He completed six murals on Oahu and established himself as a world class muralist before relocating to Los Angeles in 1979. He secured a position as a muralist-in-residence for the Social and Public Art Resource Center (S.P.A.R.C.) where he completed his first California mural, Venice on the Half Shell. Painted on panels, it was installed as the frontal piece of the Venice Pavilion. It was refurbished and returned to the S.P.A.R.C. offices before commencing on his most famous piece, Venice Reconstituted in 1989. Both works are parodies of Botticelli's The Birth of Venus. In the next year and a half, Cronk Painted nine additional murals along the boardwalk. (Source: http://www.westland.net/venice/art/cronk/index.html )
