Cedars-Sinai Unveils Bold New Mural in Marina del Rey

To view a striking new piece of public art in Los Angeles, you'll need to go to a hospital.

Cedars-Sinai has unveiled the largest artwork in its extensive collection, and it's located on the façade of the new Cedars-Sinai Marina Hospital, now under construction in Marina del Rey. Measuring 120 feet wide and 16 feet tall, the mural is the only mosaic in Cedars-Sinai's collection.

It is also a solution to an unusual challenge.

"The side of one of the support buildings to the main tower was going to have a big blank wall facing the community," said John T. Lange, curator of the Cedars-Sinai Art Collection. "We saw an opportunity to engage the community with this mural."

Lange said Cedars-Sinai put out a call to local artists to propose artwork that could fill the massive 1,900-square-foot space on the side of the new hospital's energy center. The goal was to select a design that would resonate with those who live and work in the area.

Hospital leaders, staff and community members reviewed the submissions, ultimately selecting a vibrant sunburst reflecting off water, designed by artist Jay Yan, who has spent the past decade sailing in the harbor off Marina del Rey.

"My favorite part of the day is the return home when you see the sunset on the water and that beautiful kind of half-sun sinking into the ocean, making the sky this kind of magenta, pink, dark blue shade," Yan said, while seated at his desk in the cavernous studio he shares with other artists. "There is something just so beautiful about those colors that a digital camera just cannot capture. I was very inspired by trying to create that in tile."

Yan found further inspiration in the colorful mosaics lining the underground walkways between terminals at Los Angeles International Airport, just a few miles south of the hospital.

"They are just absolutely spectacular and an icon of Los Angeles," Yan said, gesturing to a photo of one of the mosaics pinned behind his desk.

Building the Sky, Tile by Tile

To re-create the vivid hues of the Marina sky, Yan worked with Cerámica Súro, a ceramics studio and factory in Guadalajara, Mexico, renowned among artists, designers and architects for its custom work. Over five visits, Yan selected colors from the studio's vast library, working with a pigment specialist to refine the palette. The factory mass-produced tens of thousands of rectangular and curved tiles, glazing them on a giant conveyor belt.

"Making this piece from glazed tile means that the brightness and beauty of the color will last for decades despite exposure to weather and the salty Marina air," Yan said.

With the help of computer software, Yan created tile patterns within the mural that are never repeated, grouping the bouncing sunrays into jigsaw panels glued to a fine netting to simplify installation. To make the half sun, the artisans produced large, curved ceramic plates, cutting them into wide slices.

The factory hand packed the plates and panels into custom boxes, shipping them to Los Angeles, where a skilled crew laid out large swaths of the mural in a warehouse.

Finally, the crew hauled boxes of tile onto scaffolding 30 feet high to install the jigsaw pieces and plates on the hospital's energy center.

Honoring Hospital Staff

The finished mural gives commuters a brilliant welcome as they exit the 90 Freeway, heading west on Mindanao Way.

"As the sun rises from the east, it will hit the sun motif on the right side of the façade," Yan said. "As the day goes on transitioning toward evening, the sun will shine on the other end of the mural, where the color of the tile will match the night sky."

Yan named the mural "Tlaquepaque" after the neighborhood in Mexico where the tiles were made, to honor all the people who have worked on the piece-the artisans who mixed the pigments by hand, the women who assembled all the tiny pieces and the Los Angeles crew who installed the tiles-all of whom are from Guadalajara.

"I wanted to honor their labor while also recognizing all the people who labor at the hospital," Yan said.

Healing Power of Art

While the nine-story hospital has been under construction, staff members and physicians driving or walking by the site have texted photos of the progress to Joanne Laguna-Kennedy, MSN, RN, vice president of Hospital Operations and chief operating officer of Cedars-Sinai Marina Hospital.

"They are so excited, and this massive new mural is going to instill so much pride," Laguna-Kennedy said. "They're going to see this piece on the way into work and think, 'That's my hospital.'"

Laguna-Kennedy is also looking forward to the paintings, prints, photography and sculptures that will fill the hospital's hallways, waiting areas and patient rooms.

"When I was a nursing leader at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, I used to take patients for walks to the artworks because they were everywhere," she said. "I'm so excited that we will have that same opportunity here at the Marina campus as well. There is just such a healing component to artwork, and we are really fortunate to have such incredible artists sharing their masterpieces with us."

She also sees the art-and especially the mural-as symbols of Cedars-Sinai's enduring commitment to the local community.

Yan hopes the bright sun and its chromatic rays provide comfort to patients and their loved ones.

"When we come to the hospital, it's typically not our happiest day," he said. "I want to bring some joy to people as they enter, to relieve some of the tension they feel and some of their fears when they step through the hospital's doors."

Read more from Cedars-Sinai Stories and Insights: The Healing Powers of Art