Today’s mosaic is on an unoccupied building on Pine at 4th Street in downtown Long Beach. Its columns make it look like an old Home Savings and Loan, but I learn from both Lillian Sizemore and Adam Arenson that it’s a former Bank of America. The bank branch closed in 1984 and the building—or at least part of it--went through a series of tenants. It was a Mexican restaurant, Leonardo's, and more recently, a club called The Vault 350, with a concert stage--kinda like a House of Blues. Snoop Dog, Kanye West, and BB King--iow, BIG names played there.
Who knows what it will be next? Lillian Sizemore has ID’d the mosaic as one done by artist Ben Mayer, who also did library mosaics (here’s a link to one in Norwalk) and owned a design firm...but he did much more.
I'll quote from my old post: Ben Mayer was the first person to photograph a nova from beginning to end (all 36 hours) and capture on color film all 108 of the Messier galactic objects. He globe-trotted to photograph 13 total eclipses as well, and he wrote four books on astronomy.
Not only that---he actually invented and patented astronomical devices that are widely used by scientists.
The building went up in 1950, but the mosaic itself was part of a million dollar renovation done in 1967.
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