3rd St. at Locust Ave., Long Beach, CA 90802. (click to view)
Artists: Henry Allen Nord, Stanton MacDonald, and Albert Henry King. When this mosaic was created for the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, it was reportedly the largest cut-tile mosaic picture in the country and the single biggest achievement of the Federal Art Project. King supervised the actual execution, which involved the collaborative work of 40 artists. Changing the geometric shapes of tile for each pattern in a design was an innovation of Wright's, and is recognizable in his other southern California New Deal mosaics. In 1979 a major community effort saved the mural from destruction when the municipal auditorium was demolished to make way for a new convention center complex. In 1982 it was mounted at its present location and declared a City Historical Landmark by the Long Beach City Council.
Photo: © Robin Dunitz