June Edmonds
Ebony on Draper and Girard, 2021
7724 Girard Avenue
June Edmonds’ mural Ebony is inspired by Henrietta VanHorn-DeBose, the first African-American female to settle in La Jolla in the late 19th century. Henrietta and her husband, Thomas DeBose, were involved in acquiring La Jolla real estate, owning a large portion of Draper Avenue. Painted directly onto the building, the curved lines of the mural are representative of portions of the actual streets where Vanhorn-DeBose owned property. On the western facing wall, the dark brown line curving up and to the right represents Draper Avenue while the curved line that moves toward the bottom right on the southern facing wall represents Girard Avenue. Akin to Edmond’s signature painterly style, Ebony honors and remembers female trailblazers and highlights historical African American contributions and influences in La Jolla. Through vibrant and contemplative abstraction, Edmonds evokes historical memory as monument to commemorate and celebrate influential African American roots in southern California.
June Edmonds employs abstract painting as a means of investigating how color, composition, repetition, and balance can conjure up themes of spirituality, meditation, and interconnectivity. She was born in 1959 is Los Angeles, CA. She received a BA from San Diego State University and went on to receive an MFA in Painting from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. She subsequently attended Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Through both painting and public art practice, she examines the layered and complex construction of race, nationality, gender, and politics and the alignment and overlap of these various forms of identity.
Edmond’s work has been shown in many notable institutions including The Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, CA; Huntington Beach Art Center, CA; Watts Tower Art Center, CA, and the Manhattan Beach Art Center, CA. Her work is held many permanent collections including California African American Museum, CA; Amhurst College, MA; Wellesley College, MA, the David Owsley Museum of Art at Ball State University, IN; and The Pizzuti Collection, OH. She is the recipient of many prestigious awards and grants including the inaugural 2020 AWARE Prize, a 2018 City of Los Angeles Individual Artist Grant, and a California Arts Council Individual Artist Grant. She lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.
West 48' x 17'
South 48' x 9'
East 6' 8" x 17'
Wall Sponsors: Maryanne and Irwin Pfister
Photos by Philipp Scholz Rittermann