Levain Bakery Mural Complete

The transformation from blank wall to a mural celebrating Larchmont is now complete. We stopped by the Wells Fargo parking lot this morning as mural artist Janice Chang was putting the finishing touches on the mural, commissioned by Levain Bakery.

Chang, an LA native and Art Center graduate now living in New York, was hired by Levain to create the design. She has worked with Levain on murals inside its bakeries in New York, but the Larchmont location called for a different solution, so the mural was planned for the exterior wall.

After an initial presentation to the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council’s Land Use Committee, the first concept for the design was modified, removing any overt company branding elements to conform to LA’s mural ordinance. (The ordinance prohibits the use of murals for advertising and branding.) The final design, featuring lots of references to the Larchmont community, was then unanimously approved by the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council before winning final approval from the city.

Other Levain murals designed by Chang feature some type of stylized map, but for Larchmont, Chang decided to break the space into modular sections featuring all the different elements that make up the Larchmont Village community. She incorporated what she calls “easter eggs” to surprise and delight visitors when they recognize the reference. For example, Levain founders can be found in the mural, and there’s also a reference to the historic Paramount Pictures gate, our Larchmont river-stone monuments, our beloved book store, the Farmers Market and, of course, lots of pets. Though Levain’s name is not on the mural, the keen observer can spot some well placed baked goods throughout the mural. There’s even a reference to the first Levain Bakery, which opened in 1995 on the Upper West Side in NYC.

“Levain is really community focused, and the design was intended to celebrate the Larchmont community,” explained Chang.

Over the past two weeks, neighbors could find Chang working on the mural with two other artists, Sandra Nguyen Wu and Rafael Araujo. Artists Gino Burman-Loffredo, Hokyoung Kim and Gerin del Carmen also worked shifts on the mural.  Wu also shared this link to an Instagram video she created while the mural was being painted.

While we were talking with Chang today, someone stopped to thank her for the mural and the transformation of the blank wall, saying, “There’s so much to see and appreciate, thank you!”

We agree! Levain Bakery is planning to open later this month.