Artists and friends add an image to the Great Wall of Topanga to honor resident Arthur Simoneau

Artists, residents and friends are adding a new image to the historical “Great Wall of Topanga” in Topanga Canyon, to honor resident Arthur Simoneau, a pioneering hang-glider who lost his life in his home in Topanga during the Palisades fire a year ago.

Simoneau’s partner, Lisa Levinson, said the mosaic mural is dedicated to Simoneau “who died in the Palisades fire protecting the home he built.” And it also is dedicated to “the people and animals who lost their lives, homes and property in the blaze.”

Levinson, campaign director at In Defense of Animals, said Simoneau was “a hang glider and free spirit who loved to soar with the hawks on the wind.” The mural depicts him flying toward the sunset into the great beyond.

She added that Simoneau’s son, Andre, visited and placed tiles on the wall in honor of his father. And Simoneau’s friends and neighbors helped “tile and grout this mural as a tribute.”