Estrada Courts murals
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Estrada Courts is a low-income housing project in the Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles, California. It is located between E. Olympic Blvd. on the south and E. 8th St. on the north, and S. Lorena St. on the east and S. Grande Vista Ave. on the west.


History and construction

Estrada Courts was constructed in 1942-1943, during the World War II housing shortage in Southern California, which resulted from the war-time boom in war-industry work, followed by the return of servicemen to the region and the Bracero program. Of the original 30 buildings, 214 units were reserved for defense housing. In 1954, Paul Robinson Hunter designed an extension of the site with Fred Barlow, Jr. providing 414 total apartments today. When the Estrada Courts were built it was unique to other housing projects because it “was not fully segregated or bound by racial restrictions”. The Estrada Courts allowed for more integrated complexes therefore, welcoming more than just the low-income/working class. Post-war era the Estrada Courts began to evolve, in the 1970s a total of eighty murals were painted by Chicano muralists. Estrada Courts is owned by the
City of Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
and operated by the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles.


Murals

Estrada Courts is well known for its
murals A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...
, which reflect the Chicano barrio culture and traditions of the area. “Chicano murals look the way they do, because the authors concentrate not only on individual murals but on mural clusters and establish a dialogic interplay of form, content, and location among them". The iconography in the mural clusters emerges from the sociohistorical context not only of the space where they are painted but also of the aesthetic norms of specific barrio cultures over an extended period of time.” The murals include: * ''Innocence'' by Norma Montoya (1973) * ''Mural of Children'' by Charles Felix * ''Two Flags'' by Sonny Ramirez (1973), located at 1364-6 Grande Vista Ave at Olympic * ''In Memory of a Home Boy'' by Daniel Martinez (1973), located at 3328 Hunter Street * ''Dreams of Flight'' by David Botello (1973-78, repainted in 1996), located at 3441 Olympic Boulevard * ''The Sun Bathers'' by Gil Hernandez (1973), located at 3287 Olympic Boulevard * ''The Artist'' by Daniel Haro (1973) * ''Moratorium - The Black and White Mural'' by
Willie Herron Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Aames (born 1960), American actor, television director, and scree ...
and
Gronk ''grOnk'', or GRoNK, was a Canadian literary magazine begun in 1967 by bpNichol and others (for example, David Aylward, David W. Harris (later David UU; co-editor for the first series (8 issues, 1967), and editor of most of the seventh series ( ...
(1973). * ''La Fiesta'' by Roberto Chavez with students from East Los Angeles College, located at 3370-3372 1/2 Hunter Street, Los Angeles, CA 90023. (1973) * ''We Are Not a Minority'' by El Congreso de Artistas Cosmicos de las Americas de San Diego (Mario Torero, Rocky, El Lion, Zade) (1978, repainted in 1996). The mural reads on the upper left corner: “In memoriam to the Guerrillero Heroico, el Doctor Che. Día del Rebelde Internacional XI aniversario Oct. 8th, 1978.” This mural can be seen in the music videos for " To Live & Die in L.A." by Tupac Shakur and " Where Is the Love?" by The Black Eyed Peas. The murals ''Dreams of Flight'', ''Untitled'' by Daniel Haro (1983), and ''Untitled'' by Steve Delgado (1973) are featured prominently in an episode of the television show '' Robbery Homicide Division-City of Strivers'' from November 8, 2002.


Education

Residents are assigned to the following schools in the
Los Angeles Unified School District Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is a public school district in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the largest public school system in California in terms of number of students and the 2nd largest public school district in ...
: * Dena Elementary School * Stevenson Middle School * Theodore Roosevelt High School


References

{{reflist


External links

* Easterling, Stewar
An Art Museum on the Streets of L.A.
Socialist Worker Online (September 14, 2001) * Getty Museu
Priorities in Conserving Community Murals

East Los Angeles Public Housing — Tour Guide

Pomona College Experience the Mural of East Los Angeles


Boyle Heights Project Boyle Heights, Los Angeles Chicano Mexican-American culture in Los Angeles Public housing in Los Angeles 1943 establishments in California