Long Beach Airport, tile floors with signs of the zodiac
Description
These murals and mosaics depicting aviation, navigation, zodiac and constellations are in various locations throughout the Long Beach Airport Terminal. They were created by then 28-year-old artist Grace Clements.
From Early Aviation in Long Beach: “Long Beach declared the terminal (mostly unchanged since 1941) a cultural landmark in 1990. It remains the only terminal at the Long Beach airport.”
From the Long Beach Press-Telegram: “For years, works of art lay hidden beneath the feet of millions of passengers who annually frequent the Long Beach Airport. It wasn’t until recently, when the airport’s maintenance team was restoring the terminal, that the 1941 mosaics by Works Progress Administration artist Grace Clements were found underneath old carpeting. Found throughout the Art Deco airport’s first floor, Clements’ ceramic floor tile mosaics of a large global map, birds, a ship, an oil well and a hand dialing a telephone are a tribute to the city’s aviation, oil and communications origins.”
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Long Beach Airport, tile floors
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Long Beach Airport, tile floors
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Long Beach Airport, tile floors, oil heritage
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Long Beach Airport, tile floors
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Long Beach Airport, tile floors, shipping
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Long Beach Airport, tile floors, air routes, Europe
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Long Beach Airport, tile floors, air routes, Africa
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Long Beach Airport, tile floors, air routes, South America
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Long Beach Airport, tile floors, air routes, Mexico
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Long Beach Airport, tile floors, air routes, Australia to Southeast Asia
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Long Beach Airport, tile floors, air routes, US
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Long Beach Airport, tile floors, dial telephone alcove
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Long Beach Airport, tile floors, phone line connections
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Long Beach Airport, tile floors, seagulls
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Long Beach Airport, tile floors, seagulls
Source notes
Gerrie Schipske. Early Aviation in Long Beach. 2009: 10. Karen Robes Meeks, "Vintage mosaics uncovered on Long Beach Airport's floor," Long Beach Press Telegram, November 29, 2012 LAist, November 29, 2012
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You state this is the work of “28 year old” artist Grace Clements. When were the mosaics on the floors created? (This is very interesting and I have posted it on my Long Beach CA board on pinterest.)
Hi, glad to know you’re spreading the word about these mosaics! According to the sources we list, they were created in 1941.
Thank you for answering my question.
Interesting the decision to cover these beautiful mosaics with carpeting and then losing track that they were ever there. So wonderful they have been found and restored. Have you thought about posting photos to the Long Beach Facebook page?