It's nasty hot at the corner of Avenue 61 and Figueroa.
John Densmore, the drummer from the Doors, stands in the shade of his wide-brimmed hat, gazing at a damaged 120-foot mural with several other men. One of them is Luis Rodriguez, a local author who believes in his heart that L.A. and its lost boys can be saved by art.
It was Densmore, a Santa Monica resident, who initiated this little confab in Highland Park. When we first spoke by phone, he told me about how he had helped fund the mural project more than 10 years ago, so naturally, he was disappointed by its recent desecration.
Local artists had worked several months to complete the colorful tribute to their history, going all the way back to the Aztecs. The mural was dedicated to their friend Daniel Robles, a victim of gang violence in 1995, and in a neighborhood awash in graffiti, it had been sacred ground, respected and untouched by taggers all these years.
Until about two months ago.
"I got a call from Jaime [Ochoa], and he said, 'Guess what,' " said Anthony Ortega, one of the original artists along with Ochoa.
"It was like a whole bomb" of graffiti, said Ochoa.
The markings appeared to be the work of taggers rather than gang members, the men said. It was probably kids who either didn't understand their own history or didn't care. Ortega, Ochoa and others weren't about to surrender the wall to young vandals, though. They immediately went to work restoring the original mural and are about halfway done.
"Diego Rivera would be proud," Densmore said of the original work, still clearly visible though washed out in some areas.
Densmore has given quietly to local arts and culture over the years, telling me that he was inspired in part by hearing John Lennon talk about tithing.
"But I'm not going to give it to religious organizations," he said, saying he could think of no better charity than those that help build a stronger sense of community.
The drummer, you may remember, is the Doors member who resisted use of the legendary band's music in commercials, saying it "was not for rent." When he heard about the vandalism of the mural, Densmore saw an opportunity, so he invited Rodriguez to join us and share the outline of an ambitious plan to steer youngsters, like those taggers, into something constructive.
The Densmore-Rodriguez connection?
