Robert Louis Stevenson Elementary School Architectural Bas Reliefs

Clarence Nelson Aldrich

Architectural motifs: Stylized Art Deco (with possibly an abstract ram’s head), Mayan zig zag. These highly stylized Art Deco motifs are rarely found in Long Beach schools. Their location at the 2nd floor roofline atop the prominent vertical piers makes them distinctive from a distance. Up close the viewer is rewarded with a Pre-Columbian or perhaps Egyptian-inspired design. The geometric zigzags, spirals and stepped motifs (ziggurats) are intricate and simple at the same time. The unusual long, incised verticals that end in spirals just below the top panels are reminiscent of jets d’eau (spouts of water).