| Artist: | Ricardo Duffy |  |
| Title: | Meso Ridge and Conversion Ridge | |
| Date: | 2005 | |
| District: | First Supervisorial District | |
| Location: | East Los Angeles Civic Center |
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| Architect: | Gruen Associates | |
| Department: | Parks and Recreation | |
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Ricardo Duffy is one of several artists commissioned by First District County Supervisor Molina for the East Los Angeles Civic Center Renovation Project. Duffy designed colorful artworks for children that are located on the seating benches surrounding two playgrounds in the new park area.
The first playground scene, Meso Ridge, partially encloses the north playground, and is a continuous glazed ceramic mosaic filled with handcrafted and broken tiles, geometric shapes, and playful imagery such as Pre-Columbian figures riding skateboards. The other scene, Conversion Ridge enlivens the bench seating near the south playground. It is a series of square ceramic tiles and Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican designs stained onto the concrete. Both Meso Ridge and Conversion Ridge include cast aluminum Mayan figures placed on top of the benches which also function as skateboard stoppers.
About the Artist: Ricardo Duffy has exhibited extensively in the United States and abroad. A master ceramicist, Duffy has not only created work for galleries, museums, and public art projects both in the U.S. and Mexico, but he has also consulted for a spectrum of public art artists. Among his public art commissions are the Metro Blue Line Florence Station and the Ontario International Airport.