Austin Scott is painting his largest mural to date on a wall behind the rebuilt home of Waleed Delawari. It will be unveiled April 11.
Austin Scott, acclaimed muralist in Altadena, is working on a mural on Thursday, March 19, 2026, that depicts the mountains, Mt. Lowe Railway, Echo Mountain and other historic aspects of the mountains surrounding Pasadena and Altadena.
This is being done on the back wall of the Delawari family who lost their house but is rebuilding it. The mural is being painted on the back of the home facing the Altadena Crest Trail. In every mural, t-shirt, and poster created by artist Austin Scott, there are friendly animals holding up signs saluting the town of Altadena, standing tall in front of the mighty San Gabriel Mountains. His latest mural — a 700-square-foot, 85-feet-high work painted on a block wall of a rebuilt home in north Altadena — brings home the message that nature may have turned on this foothill community in the form of the devastating“To me, everything is temporary. Fire and wind are a naturally occuring phenomena in our town. Probably we won’t ever be 100% safe. But coming to terms with that means we have to respect it. We are in nature every day and we have to respect it,” said Scott. This is being done on the back wall of the Delawari family who lost their house but is rebuilding it. The mural is being painted on the back of the home facing the Altadena Crest Trail. Austin Scott has this mural on Lincoln Ave, in Altadena at Unincorporated Coffee Roasters photographed on Thursday, March 19, 2026. This is being done on the back wall of the Delawari family who lost their house but is rebuilding it. The mural is being painted on the back of the home facing the Altadena Crest Trail. This is being done on the back wall of the Delawari family who lost their house but is rebuilding it. The mural is being painted on the back of the home facing the Altadena Crest Trail. This is being done on the back wall of the Delawari family who lost their house but is rebuilding it. The mural is being painted on the back of the home facing the Altadena Crest Trail. Austin Scott has his name on this mural on Lincoln Ave, in Altadena at Unincorporated Coffee Roasters photographed on Thursday, March 19, 2026. This is being done on the back wall of the Delawari family who lost their house but is rebuilding it. Home owner Erin Delaware stands next to her favorite part of the mural that shows her four children sitting on a bench. This is being done on the back wall of the Delawari family who lost their house but is rebuilding it. The mural is being painted on the back of the home facing the Altadena Crest Trail. This is being done on the back wall of the Delawari family who lost their house but is rebuilding it. The mural is being painted on the back of the home facing the Altadena Crest Trail behind the home against the mountain. This is being done on the back wall of the Delawari family who lost their house but is rebuilding it. The mural is being painted on the back of the home facing the Altadena Crest Trail. This is being done on the back wall of the Delawari family who lost their house but is rebuilding it. The mural is being painted on the back of the home facing the Altadena Crest Trail seen here. This is being done on the back wall of the Delawari family who lost their house but is rebuilding it. The mural is being painted on the back of the home facing the Altadena Crest Trail. That kind of peaceful co-existence has inspired Scott to create his largest mural ever, “From Rails to Trails: Echo Mountain” on the very place where embers carried by 90-mph winds torched the house owned by Waleed Delawari, one of about 6,000 homes destroyed. The back wall at the property’s edge is where he has recently rebuilt his house on Devonwood Road, abutting the Altadena Crest Trail and near theIt was commissioned by Delawari for Scott, to use the wall as his canvas for this public art. Scott has created an homage to nature, the trails, and the Mt. Lowe Railway, the first transit line built in Pasadena and Altadena that took riders on a wild ride to a mountain high resort in the early 20th Century. Mount Lowe Railway packed with passengers during this day in 1909. This was the first public mass transit system into the Angeles National Forest. The historic site up Echo Mountain still contains relics from the railway. The area is part of a proposal to expand the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument discussed at a roundtable meeting in February 2024. Although Scott has full artistic control, there is one exception: Delawari and his wife, Erin, wanted their four children in the mural. Scott put them in the artwork sitting on a bench, gazing out on the San Gabriel Valley. Their presence mixes the past with hope for the future generation. “Our kids grew up in these hills, hiking these trails,” Delawari began on a warm Thursday, March 19, where workers were busy finishing his new home. He went to the mural and pointed to his children sitting on a bench that mimicked an actual bench they used to rest on in the neighboring mountains that was destroyed in the fire. “It reminds us of how special this place is. They would sit there and daydream. Now, we hope for new life as more people rebuild,” Delawari said.Scott, at age 40, spent 20 years editing reality TV shows, including ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” and Fox’s “Master Chef,” a cooking reality show. He and his family fled the flames on Jan. 8 but their Altadena home, west of Lincoln Avenue, was spared and after a month of cleaning, they returned home. Soon after, he scratched his artistic itch in a raw sketch of his favorite businesses lost in the Eaton fire, and yes, with happy animals holding a sign that read: “Altadena Forever.” That led to murals at Unincorporated Coffee Roasters and a second mural at the Eagle’s Hall on Woodbury Road. He’s done six murals in 2025. He has commissions for seven this year, he said.He likes creating murals because he paints outside in the elements, undaunted by the heat, the chilly mornings and the windy days. Also more people can see his work. But really, it’s because of the affirmation he receives. “In the 10 days it took to do my first mural, I received more appreciation than in 20 years of doing TV editing,” Scott said. One of Austin Scott’s first design was sold as a print at Webster’s Pharmacy. It features a bear with the sign “Altadena Forever.” Scott connected with the Altadena spirit of recovery when his posters sold like hotcakes at Webster’s Pharmacy last year. His “Altadena Forever” poster with the friendly bear and“It was a black-and-white print on thick stock and it sold like crazy. Everybody wanted it. This is what got Austin into his mural creativity,” said Meredith Miller, co-owner of the iconic Webster’s at 2333 Lake Ave. in Altadena.also a best seller at her boutique/pharmacy, Miller said. Later his artwork was featured on hoodies, Christmas cards and blankets.Feelings integrated in art Don’t make the mistake thinking Scott is some kind of pollyanna. He talked during a break from his mural about seeing the rows and rows of empty lots after they’d been cleared by the Army Corps of Engineers.“It was so heavy in my heart. It felt like a dead weight in my stomach,” he said. “I’d see those little lots — little plots of land that were so special to a family and thought how they’d had a lifetime of memories, dinners and parties there and now it looks like nothing.” The guy who used to sit at his computer and edit reality TV shows found a new kind of reality. Sure it hurt deeply, but using his public murals he said he’s helping the community heal, including himself. “People connect with them on a level that is deeper than ‘Oh this really looks nice.’ It speaks to the heart,” he said. “I draw out that feeling of hope.”Scott expects his “rails to trails” mural to be finished by early April. He’s set an unveiling date of April 11. As of Thursday afternoon, he’d used 10 gallons of paint, spent six days sketching the figures on the wall and 16 work days overall. This is being done on the back wall of the Delawari family who lost their house but is rebuilding it. The mural is being painted on the back of the home facing the Altadena Crest Trail. On that Thursday, he was adding eyebrows to the friendly bear, who is personified as a hiker with a backpack and a walking stick. It’s a nod to Barry the Bear,“Bears are a part of Altadena’s fabric. We’ve got to respect them,” he said. He connects people to the rich past of Altadena’s Echo Mountain, depicting Lowe’s steep and curvy “railway to the clouds” that ran from 1893 to 1936 and gave rides to four million people. The mural remembers Ye Alpine Tavern and the Echo Mountain Resort, completed in 1893 and destroyed by a fire in 1900.Tamar Knoller, a self-described art school dropout, was helping color the mural on Thursday. She lives in her Altadena home that was not touched by the fire. Her walking group stops at the funky places in town to take selfies. “This community is so amazing, especially all the weird, quirky stuff,” she said. “This is another one of those truly Altadenan things.” Scott sees more people rebuilding every day. And he passes by more blank walls. He hopes to do more murals within the commercial district as it recovers.Mount Lowe Railway preservationists want to connect people to rail’s past through artifacts, booksThis shiny Altadena bunny paves trail toward return of quirky museum lost in fireLA to raise property tax bills because criminals are stealing copper wire‘A punch in the gut:’ Cesar Chavez allegations set off shockwaves in Southern CaliforniaWallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing is nearly finished, but already small creatures are making it their home LA police union seeks call for investigation into alleged attempt by Councilman Harris-Dawson to avoid ticketSan Fernando takes down Chavez statue as stunned L.A. County communities respond to allegations
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