At first glance, the new mural at the Fountain Day School in West Hollywood looks like a pair of innocent eyes gazing into the sky in search of guidance. A closer look reveals what the eyes are composed of: old toys, milk crates, copper wire, broken baby strollers and other recycled materials.

A new mural in West Hollywood combines a public art project and the recycling of discarded household materials. (photo courtesy of Richard Settle)

The mural, “Through the Eyes of a Child,” was unveiled on April 21 to both observe Earth Day and to provide a new piece of art for the residents of West Hollywood.

“It was a very convenient location and interesting piece of art for the city,” said Andrew Campbell, of the West Hollywood Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission. “This is a wonderful way to increase the art available to the public on the eastside of the city.”

Artist Tom Deininger, a dedicated environmentalist who educates others about consumer wastefulness and resource overuse through his art, created the piece modeled after the eyes of his newborn child. The budget for the piece was $15,000 including the artist’s fees.

“It’s very intriguing how it’s done,” Campbell said. “There seems to be an emotion with the eyes and the school serves as a great place for it.”

The project was presented to the Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission more than eight months ago by Lonnie Lardner, an art consultant for Creative Voltage, Los Angeles.

“I thought that displaying this mural would showcase West Hollywood’s position as being a green city,” Lardner said. “Plus the city really loves their art. Other cities do it, but West Hollywood really believes and loves the art. It was an honor to work with them.”

Lardner showed the commission some of Deininger’s artwork to give them an idea of how the mural would be constructed. Once the commission approved the plan, the process of acquiring the materials was initiated.

During a two-month period, parents and students of Fountain Day School were asked to bring in old toys, baby strollers, dolls, bottle caps, garden hoses and other materials that would otherwise end up in landfills. Bins were placed at the school for the items and Lardner picked up the materials and delivered them to a local studio where Deininger worked on the piece with two other individuals.

Deininger, who is based in Rhode Island, came out to work on the mural two weeks ago and had it finished just in time for Earth Day.

“It’s really amazing because he never knows what materials he will be working with,” Lardner said. “There is no paint on these eyes. Every piece adds to the color and even tricks the eyes because of how they are constructed.”

Each eye weighs 125 pounds and every piece is screwed in to keep them in place and prevent any damage from inclement weather.

“There are thousands of screws holding the mural together,” Lardner said.

Lardner added that local residents have already expressed pride that they had input in creating the artwork.

“One mom walked by and pointed to a piece and said, ‘that’s our old baby stroller,’” Lardner said. “Parents have been very enthusiastic about the mural. It’s like the families created it themselves.”