Lindbergh lands in Ramona
Charles Lindbergh has landed in Ramona. Not his plane, but the Lindbergh mural previously displayed on the commuter terminal at San Diego International Airport’s Lindbergh Field.
When the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority remodeled the commuter terminal, it elected to relegate the 40-foot Lindbergh mural to a warehouse, where it languished until the original muralists, John and Jeanne Whalen, regained possession of it.
The Ramona H.E.A.R.T. Mural Project, for whom the Whalens painted the Project’s first mural in 2012, purchased Lindbergh from the Whalens and commissioned them to refurbish it.
When airport officials finally decided to let the mural go, they offered it to the artists who created it, John and Jeanne Whalen.
“I would normally let this kind of thing go,” John Whalen told San Diego Union-Tribune writer Matthew Hall in 2013. “But if I don’t go after this thing or say something or try to make something of it ... it just seemed like almost a travesty.”
The Whalens spent eight months restoring the panels, and then offered it to the Ramona H.E.A.R.T. Mural Project.
Why Ramona? The Whalens painted Ramona’s first mural in the mural project’s line-up, Casey Tibbs at the corner of 10th and Main on the Town & Country Real Estate & Home Loans building. Additionally, Ramona is one of the few communities in the County of San Diego that has an airport — and it’s an important one, housing the Cal Fire fleet of aircraft so important to the region.
“We jumped at the chance to acquire this historic mural,” said Stephanie Norvell, mural project board member who has kept in touch with the Whalens since they painted the Tibbs mural on her building.
The mural is considered a feather in the cap of the Ramona community. It will give a boost to the Ramona H.E.A.R.T. Mural Project, whose mission is: To encourage economic vitality by increasing tourism, promoting community pride, and celebrating our rich cultural heritage through an outstanding outdoor visual arts program.
“When the opportunity arose, the challenge became, where could we put a mural of that size?” said Elaine Lyttleton, president of the H.E.A.R.T. Mural Project.
Lyttleton did a bit of online research and discovered that Lindbergh was a Mason. Since the tallest wall on Main Street is the Masonic Lodge, the next step was to gain the support of the lodge members to have the mural on their building at Ninth and Main streets.
The mural is the figure of Lindbergh holding a model of the Spirit of St. Louis airplane he piloted in the world’s first solo nonstop transatlantic flight in 1927. The blue background is the painted wall upon which the panels are mounted. The Masons enthusiastically agreed.
“The next step is to present the mural design and layout to the Ramona Design Review Board in January (Jan. 28) and with their approval, Lindbergh will finally land in the heart of San Diego County — Ramona,” said Lyttleton.
This is the most ambitious project the H.E.A.R.T. Mural Project has undertaken in its nearly six-year history, both in scope and price. A benefit is being planned to help offset the costs.
“Ramonans are encouraged to watch for details as they emerge and support this landmark mural for Ramona,” said Lyttleton.