A century ago, renowned tile artist Ernest Batchelder created a custom installation for Los Angeles' Dutch Chocolate Shop, consisting of 21 murals in bas relief depicting daily life in Holland. Many tile experts consider the work Batchelder's most important commission, a precious Arts & Crafts remnant in an Art Deco-focused city, but it remains shuttered most days behind a metal roll-up door. The space's inaccessibility has roused a tight-knit community of Batchelder experts, tile fans, preservationists, and historians, who believe Batchelder's work, at the Chocolate Shop and elsewhere, should be open to the public. [Curbed National]
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