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Amigos de Siqueiros, based and founded in downtown Los Angeles in the historic Olvera Street in 2007, is a community organization that partners with the City of Los Angeles and the Getty Foundation as a means to protect, conserve and promote the mural America Tropical and create a venue to showcase the last standing mural created by the internationally renowned Mexican artist, David Alfaro Siqueiros. Amigos de Siqueiros is a product of the planning process between the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument Commission and City of Los Angeles that aimed for a community centered project for a long term steward-ship of the Siqueiros Mural Center.

Mission
The Mission of Amigos de Siqueiros is to create and sustain a partnership with the City of Los Angeles as a means to protect, conserve and promote América Tropical and create a center that will showcase and educate the public on the internationally renowned Mexican artist, David Alfaro Siqueiros and his last standing mural.

David Alfaro Siqueiros
David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974) was a Mexican muralist, who alongside Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco, was known as one of Los Tres Grandes. Siqueiros participated in the Mexican Revolution against the Spanish and remained politically active throughout the rest of his life. Siqueiros is also considered one of the founders of the modern Mexican Mural Movement, as he expressed his political and social beliefs that stemmed from personal experience through his artwork.

David Alfaro Siqueiros traveled to Los Angeles after being exiled from Mexico in 1932. Siqueiros painted three murals in the city of Los Angeles within the six month period he resided there. The three paintings were the Street Meeting at the Chouinard School of Art, the Portrait of Mexico Today, which now is on display at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art; and América Tropical which was painted on the second story exterior wall of the Italian Hall. América Tropical, which has been renowned to be the most controversial of Siqueiros murals was strategically placed to face City Hall and overlook the historic district of Olvera Street.

America Tropical Imagery
David Alfaro Siqueiros entitled his piece América Tropical as a means to have the audience create images of a romanticized paradise full of nature and exotic animals in their minds, yet have the mural’s content depict the reality of Mexican history to the viewer. The mural was unveiled on October 9, 1932, depicting a forest-like backdrop, with a central symbolic figure of a crucified indigenous man. Above his head is a perched eagle, said to respesent the United States, and around him the jungle images also show the ruin of ancient civilizations and in the corner are two soldiers are depicted entering the scene. The mural’s imagery created a storm of controversy and backlash over the art and ideologies displayed.

Criticism
While the mural was praised by many for its innovative artistic techniques and political symbolic content. Others, primarily local civic leaders, believed that the mural’s theme was not in compliance with the original vision of Olvera Street as a tame and folkloric historic Mexican village. The depiction of the struggle of indigenous cultures against imperialism proved too controversial and image

White Washing of America Tropical
The negative reactions sparked by the political imagery eventually led to the censorship of the artist through the obliteration of the mural with whitewash. During the social uprisings of the 1960s, the mural began to gradually reemerge as the whitewash eroded. The mural was seen as symbolic of the Chicano Movement as the reappearance of the mural during a highly political climate was seen as a way to reconnect Chican@s with their Mexican cultural past. Siqueiros political mural therefore sparked modern mural movement and inspired many murals throughout the United States. Today, the mural still stands and acts as a symbol of the convergence of culture, politics and art.

Conservation Project
The historic partnership among the City of Los Angeles, the Getty Conservation Insitute and Amigos de Siqueiros began its collaborative conservation project in April 2012. The end result of the project will be a viewing platform and interpretive Siqueiros center so that the historic mural will once again be open to the public.

‘The renovations will consist of the new protective shelter that will cover the south wall of the Italian Hall. A canopy with sunshades will be placed on each side to protect the mural from direct exposure to sun and rain. A rooftop platform also has been constructed to allow public access. An interpretive center, currently under construction, will be located on the ground floor of the historic Sepulveda House and will contain exhibits that explore the history and techniques used to create América Tropical, the conservation process, and the artistic legacy of David Alfaro Siqueiros.

The $9.95 million public-private investment—a $3.95 million commitment from the Getty Foundation and $6 million from the City of Los Angeles—is the culmination of years of effort to showcase América Tropical. The ongoing advocacy and expertise of the Getty Conservation Institute has been central to the endeavor to save the work, as well as the generous financial support of Friends of Heritage Preservation. Due to the early whitewashing and ongoing exposure to the elements, the mural has deteriorated and its colors have become faint. The GCI will conserve and stabilize the mural to honor and protect that which remains from Siqueiros' own hand.”

The Getty Conservation Institute
The Getty Conservation Institute works on an international scale to advance conservation practices within the visual arts, including but not limited to objects, collections, architecture, and sites. The Institute serves the conservation community through scientific research, education and training, model field projects, and the dissemination of the results of both its own work and the work of others in the field. In all its endeavors, the Getty Conservation Institute focuses on the creation and delivery of knowledge that will benefit the professional conservation community through scientific research, education and training, model field projects, and the dissemination of the results of both its own work and the work of others in the field. In all its endeavors, the Getty Conservation Institute focuses on the creation and delivery of knowledge that will benefit the professionals and organizations responsible for the conservation of the world's cultural heritage.