Public & Sacred · Riverside, California
Fox Theatre Riverside
Paint investigation and decorative restoration in a 1920s picture palace, beginning with exposure windows cut through decades of overpaint.
Areas served
Decorative painting & restoration in the San Gabriel Valley
The San Gabriel Valley holds a remarkable concentration of mission-era, ecclesiastical and civic interiors, and much of the studio’s conservation work has been done here.
From the mission at San Gabriel eastward, the valley’s building stock includes some of the oldest surviving decorative interiors in Southern California, alongside a dense network of Catholic parishes, civic buildings and 1920s theatres.
Those buildings share a common problem: decorative schemes that were painted for candlelight or early electric light, maintained on a shoestring for a century, and repeatedly overpainted. The original work is very often still there under the later coats.
The studio has worked on the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse, Holy Spirit Parish, the La Crescenta Library and parishes including St. Andrew’s and St. Charles Borromeo, on both restoration and new decorative schemes. We are used to parish committees, diocesan approval processes, and phasing work around a live liturgical or performance calendar.
Alongside institutional work we take residential commissions throughout the valley — murals, painted ornament, plaster and gilding for period and new houses.
FAQ
Working in the San Gabriel Valley
Do you restore church interiors?
Yes — it is a large part of the studio’s work. Past ecclesiastical clients include Holy Spirit Catholic Church, St. Andrew’s Catholic Church, St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, Los Angeles Second Baptist Church and the Los Angeles Mormon Temple.
Can you work around our service schedule?
Yes. Most of our ecclesiastical and theatre work is phased around a live schedule, with containment and daily reinstatement built into the programme.
We need to know what we have before we can raise funds. Can you help?
That is exactly what the consultation service is for — investigation, condition assessment and a written specification, provided as standalone work.
Case studies
All projectsRecent work
Public & Sacred · San Gabriel, California
San Gabriel Mission Playhouse
Restoring the gilded grille, carved ornament and polychrome ceiling of one of the San Gabriel Valley’s great auditorium interiors.
Public & Sacred · Los Angeles County, California
Holy Spirit Parish
A complete decorative scheme for the nave: stencilled borders, painted reredos surrounds, gilded medallions and the Stations of the Cross.
Start a project
Tell us about the room.
Every commission begins with a conversation about the space, the light and what it needs to do. Consultation and site assessment are available for projects across Greater Los Angeles.