Local artist Julia Tedesco passes away
The Tedesco family (left to right): Jack, Julia, John, and Jacob. Photo courtesy of the Tedesco family
by Andrea Ruse
She was raised as a military brat who moved around a lot, making few close friends during the early years of her life. When she moved to Manhattan Beach in the 1970s, she was anything but a part of the “in” crowd. Even the other moms pushing baby carriages around wouldn’t let her in their clique.
So Julia Tedesco formed her own cliques — ones to which everyone was invited to be a part — that centered around her talents and passions: art, history, and community.
She volunteered to teach art classes at local schools, inspiring thousands of kids to paint, sculpt and be creative.
When the city became increasingly attractive to developers, she joined the Manhattan Beach Historical Society to help preserve the community’s character and ended up helping save one of the city’s most prized treasures — the pier.
When she saw opportunities for improving her community, she took on leadership roles in local organizations and fought to keep traditions that make up the fabric of the city.
“No one in this community has done so much for so many people, and her time was limited,” said her son Jacob Tedesco. “She was completely selfless, but no matter how busy she was, what problems she was trying to fix, or which person’s life that she was trying to make better, she never missed one of mine or my brother’s little league games or didn’t have time to make dinner.”
Tedesco died Monday after a nearly six-month battle with leukemia, well-known by a community that originally wanted nothing to do with an outsider. She was 58.
“One of her legacies is that there are 5,000, maybe 10,000, works of art created by people she taught,” said Jack Tedesco, Julia’s husband of 32 years. “Some are hanging on walls somewhere. Others are in a frame or tucked between the pages of a book. Some are in galleries. Many of her students are still making art from what they learned from her.”
Manhattan Beach artist Julia Tedesco lost her 6-month battle with leukemia Monday. Photo courtesy of the Tedesco family
Tedesco was born in 1951 in Lincoln, Nebraska. Her father was in the U.S. Air Force. She moved often during her childhood between Japan, Hawaii, and San Bernardino, attending five high schools before graduating from Warren High in Downey in 1969.
As a child, she became interested in art and began painting in oils, watercolors and pastels. She attended California State University Fullerton, earning her B.A. in Art History in 1973, and moved to Manhattan Beach in 1975.
During high school, she met her future husband and the two reconnected at a friend’s wedding a few years after graduating.
“She was a bridesmaid and I was a groomsman,” Jack said. “We were assigned to each other to walk down the aisle together.”
The two walked down the aisle together again a few years later when they married in 1978 and became assigned to each other for the rest of their lives, building a home in Manhattan Beach and raising two sons — John and Jacob.
“We spent every day and every night together,” Jack said. “We raised our kids together. We did everything together. We did that every day for 32 years and it was always perfect. Always.”
Tedesco was a stay-at-home mom who became deeply entrenched in the community through her art. Her work has been featured on murals around town and at numerous exhibitions — most recently “Lost Visions” at the Manhattan Beach Creative Arts Center in September. In addition to the classes she taught at schools, such as Grand View Elementary, she offered art camps out of her garage. At one point, 900 students attended her camps annually.
“Her whole philosophy was that each student be able to bring home at least one framable piece of art they made in class,” Jack said.
Tedesco served as the moderator at the Manhattan Beach Community Church, president of the Manhattan Beach Badminton Club, and president of the Manhattan Beach Historical Society. She ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 2004.
In 1985, as president of the Historical Society, she and vice president Keith Robinson founded Pier Pressure, an organization whose mission was to save the pier. The City Council had threatened to tear the pier down after a man was injured walking underneath it. Tedesco raised $10,000 and rallied the community to save the landmark. In the end, Pier Pressure was the driving force behind not only saving but restoring the pier.
A small plaque sits at the bottom of the pier flagpole dedicated to the efforts of Tedesco and Robinson.
“She was passionate about stuff,” Robinson said. “She was always asking herself ‘What can I do?’ She always had a sense of humor, was always laughing. But she could get angry about stuff, like the shortsightedness of other people. Think about the pier lighting, the open house, parades and all that we have down at the pier. Those things probably wouldn’t be here without Pier Pressure, which Julia spearheaded.”
Manhattan Beach Historical Society members Keith Robinson (left) and Julia Tedesco don their Pier Pressure shirts while trying to save the pier. Photo courtesy of Keith Robinson
“That’s Julia’s pier,” Jack said. “She pretty much saved it.”
Tedesco’s greatest pride as Historical Society president was saving a red beach cottage
on 15th St. built in 1904, according to Robinson. When the homeowners planned to demo the dated house, Tedesco coordinated with the city to have it moved to Polliwog Park, where it now serves as headquarters for the organization.
“Six years we worked together on that,” Robinson said.
Last year, Tedesco authored a children’s book entitled The Legend of Sand Dune Park, a semi-fictional story about Manhattan Beach’s famed park.
In September, Tedesco was diagnosed with leukemia. She underwent several rounds of chemotherapy treatment and a stem cell transplant in recent months.
“For two months, she was in remission and was healthy,” Jack said. “But we knew with the mutation she had, it was probably going to come back. We spent our last anniversary, which was in February, in the hospital.”
Even during illness, Tedesco was still making plans.
“The last time I talked to her she was excited about the city’s 2012 Centennial celebration and was trying to talk me into being on the committee with her to help plan it,” Robinson said.
Tedesco is survived by her husband Jack, 59, and two sons John, 28, and Jacob, 31.
Memorial services will be held at 2 p.m. Mar. 27 at Manhattan Beach Community Church at 303 South Peck Ave.
Jack plans to respect her final wishes.
“What she really wanted was for us to throw a party. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do.” ER