Richard Wyatt’s four-panel artwork at Inglewood High School juxtaposes a Native Californian’s weathered face with an altered southwestern landscape. In the work, images of traditional adobe and sandstone constructions contrast with modern concrete architecture. Adjacent to Inglewood’s Civic Center, the Inglewood Project appears to darkly comment on contemporary and disappearing cultures.

Wyatt wrote: “After researching the area, I found that the Centinela Valley was first inhabited by Native American and Hispanic populations. So, in my design solution I incorporated both old and new time periods and architecture. In fact, the present day buildings represented in the mural are actually a reflection of the buildings across the street.”

Richard Wyatt is a highly regarded muralist known for his realistic figurative works honoring common people and historic figures. He studied at the Otis Art Institute and University of California Los Angeles. Wyatt’s monumental works are located across greater Los Angeles including in the Watts Towers Art Center; Capitol Records in Hollywood; White Memorial Hospital, Los Angeles; Ontario, CA International Airport; the Wilshire/Western Metro Rail Station; and Union Station in downtown Los Angeles. Wyatt has exhibited at the Santa Monica Museum of Art and other important fine art venues. Wyatt was born in Lynwood, California, and raised in Compton and Los Angeles.

Date: 1987
Collection: Public Art in Non-City Spaces
Owner: Inglewood Unified School District
Medium: Mural
Material: Acrylic paint on prepared block wall
Size: 14′ high x 48′ long

Location
Inglewood High School
Manchester Blvd. façade
231 South Grevillea
Inglewood, California 90301