The Museum of Neon Art's Diving Lady Finds Her Glendale Perch

The new Museum of Neon Art building in Glendale is moving closer to completion. Just added: A giant neon diving lady, a signature flourish to the top of the building. The Glendale News-Press has more:

The revamped local building that once housed an arcade is now surrounded by large glass windows in the front and black tile along the sides and back. The front of the museum is designed to look like a lightbox, which is lined with translucent siding and illuminated by electric light. Lightboxes are often seen in art or photography studios.

The diver, which is a replica of a piece of neon art that once topped a Mississippi motel in the 1940s, features outstretched arms and pointed toes, as if it were soaring over Brand Boulevard. The original diver is in a private collection and was lent to the museum in 2008 when it was still in downtown Los Angeles.

A new diver was constructed to cantilever over the museum’s roof by Federal-Heath Sign Co. in Oceanside, Koga said. Although it retains the original work’s dimensions, some tweaks have been made so that it can balance steadily from its second-floor perch.

The museum plans to light up the diver during a special event from 7 to 8 p.m. on May 27. Once lit up, the statue will be in good company, as the illuminated “Americana” sign that advertises the glitzy mall is just across the street, Koga said.

Thankfully, the MONA just saved the animated neon sign that sat atop Zinke’s Shoe Repair, which recently moved to Pasadena. Meanwhile: Help support the new building by donating here.

We've been a big fan of the MONA bus tours; read our recap from a tour we took in 2010 here.

MONA's Neon Tour Lights Up Our Saturday Night

At the invitation of Franklin Avenue friend Eric Lynxwiler -- better known these days as "Mr. Saturday Night," as dubbed by L.A. Weekly -- we boarded the doubledecker bus this Saturday to take part in the Museum of Neon Art's weekly Neon Cruise.

We had taken MONA's neon cruise once before -- read our post from November 2008. But we hadn't taken the tour with Eric at the mic. Do yourself a favor and try to make sure you take the neon tour with him, as Eric mixes the right amount of Los Angeles historic knowledge (he'll tell you anything you need to know about L.A.'s downtown buildings) and humor.

Plus, did I mention that the MONA neon tour comes with booze? Yep, the wine and beer are flowing as you ride on the open-air top deck of the bus through downtown, Hollywood and West Hollywood. Just watch out for those tree branches.

A few pics I managed to snap as dusk fell over the City of Angels:















Meanwhile, some snaps of the MONA floor, including both permanent exhibition pieces of old neon signs, as well as neon artwork created by Bill Concannon (as part of the special exhibit "Recycled, Reclaimed and Reinvented").










Maria with Eric -- and his prized neon tie.

The MONA neon art tour is a great way to see L.A. from a different perspective -- including with beverage in hand and on top of a double decker bus. Go here for more info.

L.A. Weekly Names Eric Lynxwiler "Mr. Saturday Night"

L.A. Weekly's recent "2010 People" issue includes a nice write-up of local urban chronicler, neon sign collector, Los Angeles fan and all-around good guy Eric Lynxwiler.

Eric first came on my radar thanks to the "Wilshire Boulevard: Grand Concourse" book he co-authored with Kevin Roderick; it's still one of my favorite books about L.A. history. Later, Maria worked with Eric at one of her freelance design gigs, and we got the chance to invite him to speak at one of our Great Los Angeles Walks. (Like I said, good guy.)

What Eric has really been passionate about for the last several years has been signs -- specifically, the classic neon signs that have become an endangered species in our city. Sadly, too many cool, classic signs have disappeared as clueless business owners haven't realized the treasure that they're replacing -- and shoving in the dumpster.

Eric has been a volunteer guide for years at the Museum of Neon Art, and his guided bus tours of L.A.'s neon quickly sell out.

The weekly writes:

It isn't only glowing glass tubes that Lynxwiler, 35, brings to life; it's architecture and a close-up view of the city's ornate history that even astutely observant locals are likely to have missed.

"Los Angeles becomes a great, big toy box when you're on the top deck of a bus gliding down Broadway, and these giant movie marquees with their flashing neon lights are just feet away from you," he notes. "When you're elevated above the second floor like that, you can see the intricate terra-cotta in the beaux arts, Italianate and art-deco building styles. From that level, above the canopy of trees, Los Angeles is a whole new world."

Eric frequently drives around town saving old signs for the museum -- and has stored some at his house as the museum (now heading from Downtown L.A. to Glendale) finds a permanent home. That's dedication.

(L.A. Weekly pic by Kevin Scanlon)

Neon for Valentine's Day

Still trying to figure out your Valentine's Day plans? The Museum of Neon Art is holding special "Sweetheart Neon Cruise" this Saturday, Feb. 14.

The $150-per-couple fare includes the museum's double-decker bus tour of L.A.'s classic neon signs, as well as champagne and chocolate at MONA's downtown site. The cruise departs downtown at 7:30 p.m.; check out their website for more info.

Check out our posts on the MONA museum and on the Neon Cruise, which we enjoyed last fall.

Lost in 2008: Another Rough Year for Preservationists, With a Few Bright Spots

(Flickr pic by Neonspecs.)

2008 marked another tough round of disappearing buildings and signs for Los Angeles preservationists. Gone were buildings such as Lou Ehlers' Cadillac dealership on Wilshire (and the Bob's Big Boy across the street). The year ended with a new threat: This time, to the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City.

Also, above: Our friend Eric Lynxwiler gave us the sad news that the cool old Dan-Dee Shoe Repair sign in Hollywood has vanished. The Museum of Neon Art had hoped to save the sign -- following the mysterious fire at the corner of Hollywood and Vine, which shut down the store for good -- but wasn't having any luck getting ahold of the proper people. And then... one day, the sign was gone.


(Flickr photo by eyetwist.)

Ditto the huge neon sign for the massive Glendale/Atwater Village branch of furniture outlet Levitz. Seen for years off the 5 freeway, the sign recently disappeared from view, Eric notes at the ModCom message boards.

Meanwhile, it wasn't all doom and gloom in preservation land: The nearly demolished Harvey's/Johnie's Broiler in Downey was ready to live again, now as a part of the Bob's Big Boy chain. And two more L.A. landmarks, the Hollywood Palladium and Downtown's P.E. Cole's restaurant, reopened with what appear to be generally high marks for their renovation/restoration. (I know there are some objections to the Cole's changes... but they seemed to be tempered by the fact that the place wasn't completely altered.) And Macy's also got raves for its restoration and retrofit of the old Bullock's location on Lake Ave. in Pasadena.

Museum of Neon Art Settles Into Its Temporary Digs

Long located in downtown on Olympic near FIDM, the Museum of Neon Art was forced to vacate its home a few years ago after rents rocketed sky high. MONA finally found temporary digs in the Historic Core, at 136 W. 4th St., earlier this year.

The problem with the new space: The front door is too small to haul in some of the museum's impressive pieces. But at the same time, some pieces that have been in storage for years is finally being displayed.

We visited the museum on Saturday night to take one of the MONA's famed double-decker bus nighttime neon tours, courtesy the museum's Eric Evavold. More on that tomorrow. But first up, today, some shots from the new MONA space:



Larchmont Hardware recently went out of business -- another victim of escalating rents; in this case, in pricey Larchmont. The MONA managed to save this piece.


Here's how it once looked, before being removed.


Maria's favorite, the flying woman.


Chris & Pitts' BBQ!


The remaining letters (remarkably, all but the "K" survived) from the Miracle Mile's "The Darkroom." (Where El Toro Cantina and Busby's are now located.) Urban anthropologist Eric Lynxwiler, who happened to be taking the tour as well (he frequents as an MC on the neon tour, but was taking the night off), housed the letters for a while during the MONA's move, and filled us in on how the letters were saved.

Eric also posted the story on his Flickr account:

When the store changed tenants, the stainless-steel sign was tossed out and thought to be lost forever.

Decades later, the man who was hired to remove the sign from the facade came forward. He had recognized the sign's importance and kept what he could salvage of it (minus the absent K) in the rafters of his sign studio and, just a few years ago, donated it to the Museum of Neon Art (MONA).

As a fan of Wilshire and neon, this piece was an incredible find and I was thrilled it went to MONA and back on public display. However, after just a few years back in the public eye, the museum lost its lease and shut its doors for a year. Although MONA has now reopened in a new-yet-temporary space, the sign had to go somewhere in the interim.

And, of course, I volunteered to store it and a few other museum signs in my loft in downtown LA. Yes, that's right, I was storing The Darkroom sign in my loft for the past year and was giddy to share it with anyone who walked in my door. It fit perfectly right under my window.

And here's how The Darkroom looked back in the day.


Another SoCal fave: Manny Moe and Jack, of Pep Boys fame.


"The Zodiac Room," plus an old exit sign from the Grauman's Chinese Theater.


A sight once seen all over SoCal: The Van de Kamp bakery.


Funland!