Murals of La Jolla projects are located on private property, are privately funded, and are temporary, meaning they have a lifespan and are replaced every two to five years.
But replace Roy McMakin’s Favorite Color (2010)? With its cheerful, graphic simplicity and deceptively poignant humanity, this mural has become a beloved landmark and community portrait, so Murals of La Jolla invited McMakin to create another version for the same wall. Twelve years later, Your Favorite Color is underway for the same location at 7596 Eads Ave.
The mural is set to be painted Aug. 1-6. And just like its previous iteration, McMakin’s Your Favorite Color is visually playful and came to fruition through the artist’s collaborative concept.
“The idea was very simple. I have always, since a child, been intrigued by both my own emotions around color preference and also others. It has been important, and part of my identity, to know what my favorite color is. I often recall times when I discussed color with my friends as a child, and the talk always centered around preference. And I have found as an adult that most people still enjoy sharing what their favorite color is,” McMakin said.
“My proposal for the wall in La Jolla in 2010 was to create a visual document of what a somewhat arbitrary group of people, of various ages, etc., chose as their favorite color. I began the process by asking people their favorite color, and then I presented them with a selection of four to six colors, of which they chose the one that was closest to the color they liked best. For example, if someone said ‘blue,’ then I showed them blue swatches and they chose one. One square has then painted that color.”
While the new iteration of Your Favorite Color looks like the first version, it is completely different, as all of the color choices are new. Eight hundred and eighty-two individuals chose their favorite color at a three-day event at the Athenaeum in May 2022. There were 79 colors to choose from, and all of the colors were chosen at least once, while one color, in particular, was chosen 40 times. Lime green was the most popular color choice in 2010, and in 2022, it is classic pink.
McMakin is an artist whose predominantly sculptural practice includes architecture and furniture through which he demonstrates a deep engagement with the artistic potential of domestic objects and environments. He was born in 1956 in Lander, Wy. He studied conceptual art-making under artists Allan Kaprow and Manny Farber at the UC San Diego, where he received both his BA and MFA.
McMakin resists the conventional forms of art-making through the push and pulls of form and function. He seeks to bring art into every day, as opposed to putting it on a pedestal, with work that is both accessible and functional. Many of his sculptures are inspired by or incorporate found furniture. The artist reworks these objects of American domesticity, adjusting size and material to change how they are traditionally understood.
More information about McMakin’s Favorite Color (2010) can be found at https://www.muralsoflajolla.com/roy-mcmakin.
Murals of La Jolla was founded by the La Jolla Community Foundation and is now a project of the Athenaeum. The goal of the mural project is to enhance the civic character of the community by commissioning public art projects on private property throughout La Jolla.
The Murals of La Jolla Art Advisory Committee is composed of the heads of the major visual arts organizations who commission artists to propose the intervention of an image on specific walls on privately owned buildings. The first two artworks, by Kim MacConnel and McMakin, were painted directly on their sites. Subsequent artworks have been printed on vinyl and installed on billboard-like structures, with the exception of Heather Gwen Martin’s and June Edmonds’ murals, which were painted on their site. Each work is on view for a minimum of two years and is generously funded by private donations.
