by Shawn Raymundo August 14, 2023 3:12PM in EYE ON SJC, News
When Rich Heimann approached Capistrano Trading Post owner Bill Ortega about a year ago, asking to use his building in Downtown San Juan Capistrano for a mural, Ortega agreed.
There was only one caveat though that Ortega had for Heimann, the president of The Alliance for San Juan Art (TASJA).
“I said, ‘yeah, that sounds just like what people have been talking about for 37 years,’ So I said, ‘there is one condition, Rich, that I don’t have to do anything,’” Ortega said to an amused crowd Friday, Aug. 11.
“And he kept his promise, except for this speech,” Ortega joked to the group of residents, dignitaries and members of the local art and business communities who gathered outside his building to unveil the mural by the late Nellie Gail Moulton.
“He kept his promise, they did all the footwork. They did all the going back and forth to the City Council, they raised the money. They did everything,” Ortega said. “And I think it looks good.”
The mural of the painting “Mission Garden” by Moulton, a prominent artist of the 1920s, now adorns the back of the Trading Post for those visiting San Juan’s downtown corridor to view and admire—part of longstanding plans to beautify the area, such as the walkway between the Trading Post and Hennessey’s Tavern.
READ MORE at The Capistrano Dispatch
