A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, Nov. 4, to unveil a patriotic mural at VFW Post 5948 in downtown Tehachapi.
Artist and retired Air Force colonel Mark Pestana painted a mural representing the military branches on a city-owned utility box outside the post office building. This new artwork is part of Make Art Tehachapi’s ongoing efforts to create, protect and preserve historic murals in downtown Tehachapi.
Pestana served in the U.S. Air Force for 28 years, spending half of that time in the reserves at Edwards Air Force Base. He is on the faculty of the Viterbi School of Engineering at the University of Southern California. He also works as a research pilot at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center and is active in various arts organizations, including the U.S. Air Force Arts Program.
His aerospace artwork is featured in private, corporate, and government collections, including 14 pieces on display at the Department of Defense.
A former U.S. Air Force space operations engineer and command pilot, Mr. Pestana has logged more than 5,000 flight hours and flown 213 combat intelligence sorties. He also worked as an aircrew operations engineer for NASA and designed mission patches for nine space shuttles.
Make Art Tehachapi is a team formed through the Tehachapi Valley Arts Association. Their efforts have already led to the restoration of several murals, including the 1915 Dance on Green Street, the Legend of Avelino Martinez, and the THatcha-P brand mural. The group is currently restoring the “Mountain People: Nuwa Mural” on the corner of Green and West F streets.
VFW Tehachapi Mountain Post 5948 is located at 221 W. Tehachapi Blvd.
