Larry Dierdorff is Redlands beloved muralist
And why public art is so important
Not too long ago Redlands muralist extraordinaire, Larry Dierdorff, spoke to the public about his beautiful artwork decorating walls in and around Redlands: At most of Redlands’ school sites, Downtown, alleys, business sites, inside restaurants, offices, churches, a parking structure and beautifying the plywood on a burned business. The plywood is now a selfie wall called ‘Redlands Finest’ where kids can blow bubbles and hold a bunch of orange balloons, that you can find on Orange Street.
A dizzying 200 murals has Dierdorff finished in the Inland Empire, plus commissioned work in private homes. It’s hard to think he still has time to paint on canvas at home.
That night Redlands Historical Society at the Contemporary Club had about 60 people interested in learning more about the murals we are so familiar with. Murals that tell the story about who we are: The citrus history, local wildlife and restoration of old advertising signage.
Local historian, Tom Atchley, introduced the artist and said, “He has been teaching us about Redlands history through his art.”
It all began in the 1980’s when Larry Dierdorff worked as a teacher at Mariposa Elementary School (he had prior to that a career teaching art at A.B. Miller High School in Fontana). During his time at Mariposa, teachers were required to do playground duty. “I decided that the ball walls were giant canvases that would expose the kids to art as they played,” he said. Even in his class room he painted the solar system and a nod to Pluto by painting Disney’s Pluto dog instead of a tiny planet.
He said with a wink that Mariposa is an art gallery that works as a school.
Whenever he paints, he makes sure to give a nod to the place and culture he is at. At Mariposa Elementary, the school mascot is the monarch butterfly, thus at each mural kids can look for the orange butterfly fluttering some place or another.
He has painted scenes from books like Tom Sawyer, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Cat in the Hat and One Crazy Summer for the fifth graders.
And a series of early history for the third graders where he added school kids of today painting the history they are learning about. Dierdorff has a fabulous way of bringing about inclusion in every single mural. Different races, types and disabled kids can find themselves in the artwork.
The importance of finding yourself represented in literature has been widely acknowledged not only by authors and scholars but among kids themselves. To see the forethought of this sentiment at schools’ murals by Dierdorff is heart warming. When you find yourself in art and literature, you know you belong.
His murals can be found at other local schools too: Cram, Bryn Mayr, Arroyo Verde and at Judson and Brown. The latter he received the city Beautification Award twice in 2002 and 2003. His art is also at Redlands East Valley High School where you can spot the Eiffel Tower at the French teacher’s parking lot. And at a school in Ontario.
The variety with which Dierdorff works is wide and vast. Some are realistic, some feel like graphic cartoons, some more modernistic and abstract. He has made an exact copy of a LeRoy Nieman’s painting of Sinatra at the State Street restaurant Rok n Fondue owned by Tim Rochford.
Rochford is the local philanthropist whose organization the Rochford Foundation is located at the Burrage Mansion. At the restaurant there is also a painting of that by Dierdorff.
A little cadeau to Rochford is hidden in the umbrella alley. The cat underneath a clock is an image of his cat. And check out the dials on the clock, that’s Rochford’s birthdate, 9/6/46.
In the umbrella alley, Dierdorff painted The Little Rascals-kids from a beloved tv-series in the 1930’s. But notice modern sensibilities in that a toy gun became a sling shot in Dierdorff’s version. The kids are sitting on Redlands orange crates and look for the picture of Franklin D. Roosevelt on the piano.
Murals don’t last forever, which is why the mural of 4th of July Dierdorff did 30 years ago, has already been restored once and badly need it again. He has also made peace with when people paint over his murals, which happened at an office building by JoAnn’s Fabrics. New owners simply covered it up. Though I suspect, Dierdorff would much rather come and restore his work than see it disappear forever.
Since he retired from his teaching position of 40 years in 2012, he considers painting murals a second career. “The greatest joy I feel seeing my work out in public is that I feel I am bringing art to a lot of people who would never go to an art gallery or a museum,” he said to me in an email after the presentation. “Seeing the joy my walls bring to people as I am painting them is very fulfilling.”
This year, Dierdorff has been a busy bee. He painted a large mural on the backside of a building at the city parking lot between 5th and 6th streets. He was commissioned to paint a rock wall inspired by the round stones from the Zanja creek. He added local plants and animals to the wall with many little ‘stories’ of their own. Even the electric post was included in the art.
“My wife is my number one critic,” he said. She told him to stop painting animals. But when you look at the rock wall, you can tell he just couldn’t help himself. As Dierdorff explained at the presentation, “I plan, but when I begin it evolves.” He is usually given a series of ideas or images, but then he takes it from there. “I enjoy the challenge.”
New work also include the fragrant fields of the wine country next to Uncorked on State Street and the Grigsby Building on Orange Street where he restored old advertising letters. The ‘wheat rolled barley’ words were originally there and Dierdorff added a cart of barley with little mice eating from the sacks. Notice the before picture!
This year Dierdorff painted images honoring the Hispanic community in town on the new parking structure on Stewart Street and there is a fantastic colorful inclusion and diversity mural named “Redlands is for Everyone” which fills me with joy.
It pays as an observer to look at the little details. For example on the building in the alley on S. Fifth Street by the city hall where cement boards with beveled tops were put on the side of the building to discourage people from sleeping on the roof. The cement boards are decorated with orange trees, but can you find the three birds hiding between the branches?
He explained to me, that there are three major challenges painting murals. The surface, which can be uneven stucco or brick, “These surfaces are quite difficult to work on, especially if I want to paint fine detail,” he said. Then there is getting to the top of a two-story building, where Dierdorff brings an extension ladder. Usually uneven surface on the ground won’t let him set up scaffolding. And lastly, the summer heat. “In the summer, I can only paint in the shade,” he said. Even so, the work is rewarding and he prefers painting in Redlands.
His absolute favorite work was painting a copy of Norman Rockwell’s painting ‘A Scout is Loyal’ at the local Boy Scout office at Indiana Court in the 1990’s. Another favorite is the baby in the rain on the corner of Fern and Redlands Blvd. “It’s about kindness and caring,” he said. There he added the orange as a Redlands reference point.
“I love this city and I love this heritage. I am very fortunate to have the privilege to paint here,” he said.
I think most Redlanders would agree, that we feel very fortunate and privileged to have someone like Dierdorff painting what we are proud of and what makes us better as a community. I see Dierdorff as one of Redlands foremost storytellers who helps the Redlands citizens define who we are: People who care about our citrus heritage, people who are diverse, people who want to protect our natural surroundings, people who come together to celebrate. And that is what public art can do.
You can find Dierdorff here: www.larrydierdorff.com where you can see more of his murals and contact him. He will gladly paint for commission.
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