Volunteer Organizations Are Working to Improve the View

“There is a deterioration in the city’s environment. Litter, graffiti, dumping. . . . I see a sliding of the sense of responsibility among the public.”

These strong and worried words come from an official whom many consider the foremost public authority on the appearance of Los Angeles’ streets--Ed Avila, vice president of the city’s Board of Public Works, Department of Public Works. (The department has among its responsibilities the maintenance of city streets.)

Despite his concern, Avila is hopeful. “The need is being recognized,” he says. “People are asking for more service. But it is going to take a coordinated public and private effort to restore the city’s pride in itself.”

Many organizations share Avila’s sentiments about beautification. The following is a sampling of nonprofit, volunteer groups working to improve the view in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles Beautiful, 404 S. Bixel St., Los Angeles. The group has worked to improve Los Angeles’ looks since 1949. Activities include anti-litter campaigns, freeway and airport landscaping, promotion of underground utilities, beautification awards and sign regulation. Its programs with the Los Angeles Unified School District reach more than 450,000 students. Volunteers are needed as judges for student contests in campus improvement in March and April, 1988. Los Angeles Beautiful says in the fall it will coordinate a cleanup campaign involving city government, community groups and the schools. To volunteer, call (213) 482-1665. Los Angeles Conservancy, 849 S. Broadway, Suite M22, Los Angeles. The conservancy’s volunteer docents are well-known for their walking tours of downtown Los Angeles. The organization also encourages renovation of historic buildings and advocates preservation of architectural landmarks, both public and private. The conservancy says it has been instrumental in saving the Wiltern Theatre, Pan Pacific Auditorium and the Central Library.

“We promote understanding of and appreciation for the beauty of our ‘built environment,’ ” says Ruthann Lehrer, a spokesperson and former executive director. (Similar neighborhood organizations include the Pasadena Heritage, Hollywood Heritage and West Adams Heritage associations.) For information call (213) 623-2489.

Los Angeles Conservation Corps, 2824 S. Main St., Los Angeles. Modeled after the California Conservation Corps, the organization employs men and women ages 18 to 23 to help nonprofit groups and government agencies with planting, clearing, painting, cleanup or minor construction. “We provide employment and teach skills while helping beautify the city,” says Martha Diepenbrock, executive director. “So far, we’ve drawn members mostly from East L.A. and Central L.A., but the group is open to young people from all over the city.” For information call (213) 749-3601. American Lung Assn., 5858 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 300, Los Angeles. Smog is a major eyesore, and both visible and invisible forms of air pollution are being battled by the lung association. “We are the oldest volunteer health organization in the country,” says Ron Arias, director of communications for the Los Angeles chapter. “Now we are venturing into the political arena to advocate re-ratification of the Clean Air Act.” Chapter activists monitor the work of the Environmental Protection Agency and the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The association’s government affairs committee works for strict air quality standards. Call (213) 935-5864.

Sierra Club, 3550 West 6th St., Suite 321, Los Angeles. The Sierra Club’s reputation for wilderness conservation often eclipses its accomplishments in the city. The Angeles chapter’s urban environment committee says its city efforts include beautification through promoting open-space ordinances and through protests against the use of canyons for landfills. The club’s local parks committee acts as a watchdog against development of public parks. Sierra Club members organize work parties to pick up trash on beaches and in the Bolsa Chica and Seal Beach wetlands. Cleanups are also undertaken in city-owned parks, such as Griffith Park and Stoney Point in Chatsworth. To volunteer, call (213) 387-4287.C

Otis Art Institute of the Parsons School of Design, 2401 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. “Five years ago we decided to revitalize the neighborhood through art,” says Al Nodal, director of exhibitions at Otis. Projects have included installing new lights and public art in MacArthur Park across the street from the school and relighting vintage neon signs around the park. “It’s believed that the first neon sign in America was put up at Wilshire and La Brea in 1923,” says Nodal, “but the great old signs of the ‘20s and ‘30s were turned off during World War II. So far we have renovated and relit six of them.” Volunteers are needed in the neon program. Call Nodal at (213) 251-0556.

Korean-American Senior Citizens Assn., 2847 West 8th St., Los Angeles. At 6:30 a.m. on the first Friday of every month, dozens of people from the 800-member association sweep the sidewalks and streets in an area bordered by 8th Street, Western Avenue, Vermont Avenue and Olympic Boulevard. Then they retire for doughnuts and coffee and talk, usually at the office of realtor Hank Yim. For information call (213) 382-4630. TreePeople, 12601 Mulholland Drive at Coldwater Canyon, Beverly Hills. For 14 years Andy Lipkis and his TreePeople have urged Angelenos to beautify the environment through planting and caring for trees. A TreePeople spokesman says the group has been responsible, directly or indirectly, for the planting of several hundred thousand trees throughout the city. One program helps neighborhood associations motivate homeowners to plant street trees and aids in getting the necessary city permits. Another has distributed 70,000 fruit trees to low-income families and organizations that run food banks. Volunteers need no experience; however, people with such skills as carpentry or electrical work are especially welcome. For information call (213) 273-8733 or (818) 769-2663.

Youth Art Center, 3300 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. “We encourage graffiti ‘taggers’--those who ‘tag’ (write) their street nicknames wherever they can--to become real artists,” says center director Carmelo Alvarez. “We challenge their creativity.” Taggers are first provided paper and then canvas and ultimately are trained in air brush and other techniques. Based in Immanuel Presbyterian Church, the nonsectarian, multicultural center also offers instruction in dance, theater and music to people aged 8 to 19. The center seeks art teachers and computer graphics artists. It is also looking for employers with paying jobs for budding artists. Also needed are spaces and walls for public art. For example, in an authorized street gallery downtown, youths have created graffiti murals. “If you want to stop vandalism,” Alvarez says, “then provide positive, legal alternatives.” To help, call (213) 383-7943. 5 Points Community Assn., 245 West 33rd St., Los Angeles. Named for the five nearby freeways and supported by businesses in the garment district in cooperation with students from John Adams Junior High School, this organization holds monthly cleanups of the area bounded by Interstate 110 and Main Street, 39th Street and Adams Boulevard. “We work with youngsters from grammar school age through high school,” says President Carolyn Van Horn. “When kids take a littered area and clean it, they have immediate gratification.” Alternating cleanup days with field trips, the young people have planted, maintained and replaced street trees, painted out graffiti and helped create murals on freeway underpass walls. For information, call (213) 748-7244.