News

On the evening of March 12th, the Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils, the oldest and largest Council alliance in the City, held an anniversary event. And as Council members from across the Valley ate, met each other, and listened to some excellent speakers, awards were presented for achievements during the year. Our own Neighborhood Council, along with our neighbors at the North Hollywood West Council, were recognized for “Best Collaborative Project to Instill Community Pride” for our work towards the new Vintage North Hollywood Mural.

For the past several years, our Council has worked with North Hollywood West and the office of Councilmember Paul Krekorian to clean and improve the Whitsett slope. Once an eyesore of overgrown weeds and trash, today the area on Whitsett north of Sherman Way near Saticoy is planted with local vegetation and hosts one of the largest public murals in the City, and certainly one of the newest. Visible from the 170 freeway, the Vintage North Hollywood mural reflects the history of our community, from old agriculture to a tribute to Nudie Taylor, designer for the rhinestone cowboy craze.

As a Neighborhood Council, we are proud to have made this long-standing commitment to positive change in our community, especially when it has brought together our community with many volunteer efforts over the years and strengthened the bond between Neighborhood Councils and our Councilmember. It is by working together that we can achieve great things, and that was the recognition of this award. We appreciate everyone who has lent a hand and supported this work with us, and thank in advance all of those who will join us in the years to come as we do more for our community.

On November 15th, our Board joined once again with our neighbors at North Hollywood West Council and Paul Krekorian’s CD 2 to dedicate the Vintage North Hollywood mural. At 9,000 square feet, it is one of the largest murals in the city and is a big symbol of the revival of this classic Los Angeles art form.

At 240 feet long, the mural took over 10,000 gallons of paint and the work of more than 100 volunteers. Members of the community helped artists Ernie Merlan and Levi Ponce create this installation, in addition to autistic adults from Mr. Merlan’s Exeptional Minds, a non-profit work center and animation studio.

The mural dedication also marks the culmination of one of the biggest and most successful renovation cleanups in our area. For years, the slope on Whitsett Boulevard south of Saticoy was an overgrown eyesore, strewn with weeds and trash. Over the course of several years, community groups, including our Neighborhood Council have picked up trash, pulled weeds, swept dirt, planted drought-resistant plants, installed a watering system, and more. Slowly, the area transformed from a blight to an attraction.

Saturday’s dedication was a great community event with speeches, food, and news cameras. Hundreds turned out to see the new mural, and Nudie Taylor’s custom car, courtesy of the San Fernando Valley Relics Museum. Nudie, the original rhinestone cowboy fashion designer, was one of many vintage parts of North Hollywood that made its way into the mural.

Special thanks to Nancy of Teesdale Neighborhood Watch for the cover picture for this article.

This past Saturday, the Vintage North Hollywood mural moved a step closer to completion with the help of some dedicated and artistic volunteers. When the call went out, they chose to spend a lovely Saturday morning making their neighborhood a more beautiful place with a vast concrete canvas on Whitsett. This was the second day of public painting. Of course, regular readers will already know this from another article on this website.

Councilman Paul Krekorian of CD 2, who has been leading the mural effort, has also announced a planned dedication date on November 15th. Our own Neighborhood Council, partnering again with our neighbors at NoHo West NC, will be helping to support this event.

To follow the developments on the mural, keep watching right here. Or follow #nohomural.

Our Council, in coordination with the City Council District 2, and our neighbors at the North Hollywood West Neighborhood Council, returned to the Whitsett Slope on March 31. Our Council has visited this slope many times over the past years for trash cleanup, weed removal, planting, and now another weeding, including hundreds of volunteer hours. And the results speak for themselves. This slope on the west side of Whitsett south of Saticoy may be small, and may be very close to the freeway, but it has gone from an eyesore to a symbol of the kind of changes we can make in our community.

As we consider the many Saturdays that have gone into restoring this small piece of land, we also see the kind of dedication and persistance that can be needed to make this kind of turnaround. Changes don’t happen overnight, but our Council, our neighbors, and our partners have demonstrated that we can follow through and make a difference.
Our thanks and recognition go out to everyone who was able to join our efforts on Saturday, as well as everyone who has generously donated their time and effort to this project in the past. None of this would have been possible if we had not come together as a larger community.

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The City of LA and the Department of Recreation and Parks are working on a long-term goal of improving the Whitsett Soccer Complex, located at the corner of Whitsett and Vanowen. They will be adding a new synthetic field in the next few months. The long term goal is to add 7 fields, an ADA area and some picnic areas.

There will be a discussion about the project on February 19, 2014 @ 2 pm, at Valley Plaza Library, 12311 Vanowen st. in North Hollywood.