By DOUGLAS W. MOTLEY
Senior Writer
Commissioned by Crestline’s TM Camping Company, located adjacent to the Shell gas station on Lake Drive, mural artist Wes Abarca was hired to create a colorful mural on the south side of the company’s office building. The mural welcomes motorists entering the Lake Gregory Village business district with a view of the sun setting over the lake and beyond the mountains.
Wes Abarca (at top of the ladder) is seen with Luis Solanos putting the finishing touches on his recently painted Lake Gregory Village mural.
Abarca, although he now resides in Utah, is no stranger to Crestline. The former resident has created a dozen or more murals throughout the mountain communities, stretching from Crestline to Running Springs. His most recent Crestline project, which began about two weeks ago, wrapped up on Thursday, July 25, when he applied a final clear coat on the Lake Gregory Village mural.
Asked what inspired him to become a mural artist, Abarca told the Alpine Mountaineer, “My brother, who is 10 years older, got me started when I was in junior high school in East L.A., where I grew up. I guess I wanted to be like him,” he said, adding, “Everywhere you go in L.A. there are murals; that probably influenced me, as well.”
When asked where he painted his first mural in Crestline, Abarca replied, “It was an indoor mural at a private residence here in Crestline. The first outdoor mural I painted was at the Rim Bowling & Entertainment Center in 2019. The next one was at Lake Gregory Elementary School in 2021. Then, in 2022, I repainted the mural at Goodwin’s Market. However, it was destroyed when the roof at Goodwin’s caved in during the harsh winter of 2023.”
Others painted by Abarca are a bicycle mural across the street from the bowling alley, a kayak on a wall at 7-Eleven, a wooded nature scene at Hoffman Elementary School in Running Springs, a bear and rabbit mural at Harich Field in Twin Peaks, three Rim Scots murals at Rim High School and another one at Mountain High School. More recently, Wes painted a mural at Valley of Enchantment Elementary School depicting the school’s hawk mascot.
Abarca, who is the founder of the Southern California Vintage Base Ball League, is also a member of the league’s two-time championship Crestline Highlanders team. Prior to painting murals fulltime, he was employed as an aircraft mechanic at LAX, San Bernardino and Ontario International Airports. He said he gets most of his referrals by word of mouth and from Facebook.
A paint-splattered Wes Abarca at the end of another long day of painting.
Upon completion of the Lake Gregory Village mural on July 25, Abarca returned to his home in Eagle Mountain, Utah, where he expects to fly from nearby Provo to begin working on murals planned for Iowa; Grand Junction, Colo.; and Billings, Mont.
When asked why he chose Wes Abarca to create a Lake Gregory Village mural on the side of his corporate headquarters, Steve Garcia, CEO of Trademark Camping Company, told the Alpine Mountaineer on July 26, “I’ve known Wes for a long time and I’m familiar with his work at locations throughout the mountaintop area, so he was a natural choice for the job.”
Garcia added, “Now that the mural is completed, we are planning on constructing a wooden dock in front of the mural to make it appear more realistic. Visitors to our community might want to use it as a background for photographs.”
0 Comments