9.19.2011
End Mural Moratorium. Art Is Not A Crime…
The reason I hired five jet planes to sky write over City Hall and downtown Los Angeles is to bring awareness to how ridiculous a moratorium on public art is.
The city states that all public murals are signage, effectively banning art from the walls of Los Angeles. And it is removed at the taxpayers’ expense. Money is given to private graffiti removal companies, who have broken onto private property to paint murals beige. The owners of small businesses where murals have been painted have been harassed and threatened with fines if they do not remove the artwork. Police officers raid homes and places of work, intimidating artists and building owners. During this time of economic crisis, “mural signs” are an easy target for the city to extract money. This moratorium is a clear violation of the first amendment right to free speech and enforcement for these unreasonable laws is a complete waste of taxpayer funds.
To put things in perspective I recently visited the beautiful set of murals inside the Terminal Annex Building on Alameda. This mural by …was painted in 1941-44 and was funded by the “Works Progress Administration” (WPA). Murals are just a part of the legacy of a national program that put the country to work during the Great Depression.
Fast-forward to the Great Recession, taxpayer money is now used to obliterate all traces of the artwork my generation have created. I believe this is city-funded censorship pushed by lawmakers with personal vendettas. Potential jail time is more probable for us than the opportunity of creating an artistic legacy for the next generation. In a city that used to proudly call itself the “Mural Capitol Of The World,” the officials who enforce this ban should be ashamed to call themselves “Angelinos.”
Art Is Not A Crime… End Mural Moratorium.
4 comments:
Long story short - public art is dead because of vandalism here in Los Angeles... I think all of the old Twitchell freeway murals have been tagged over. Murals on private property are all over East LA where I work - I don't see graffiti eradication crews buffing them out.
Thanks for posting...very informative.
not sure on this one Jeff, big fan of the art but feel it's been de-valued by the endless 'tagging' that we have in 'dear olde englande', even decent pieces are relentlessly over-tagged with gang/individual names,i get over to the 'States at least once a year and have spotted some great work, laugh out loud shit in Venice Beach, great political stuff in L.A and the best art, subtle and powerful at the same time, [i guess that what 'art' should be?] in San-Francisco, why bother that the artwork is painted over or erased?, nothing last's forever in this age, everything is temporary, check out last years mobile, [cell] phone, computer games or fashions, keep on keeping on with the art, take photo's and post them on the web, that way it last's forever, otherwise we are just stroking the 'artist's' ego, he/she is saying 'look at my work, isn't it great, how dare you de-face it with a tag or the local authorities erase it?', don't be so precious, you are spraying it in a public place, you are inviting comment or reaction, that's what public art is all about surely?, loveless.
I knew this info would raise question and comments. I defenatley agree with all of you, the art today is quick and easily covered up. These artist attached to Seventh Letter and AWR are notable graffitti artist. They study there techniques and dont lay paint unless it has a purpose. The locations being defended in the story are private properties and contracted works. They deserve the protection of their art, not the teenagers who tag unrespected nicknames on random parts of others properties and locations that are deemed "Tags". I think SABER is in the right with this story, and people today need to realize it isn't just trendy graffiti running ramp-id on LA, it is sought out locations and invited application to private and public areas. I support the graff artists among us today and will always pass on the knowledge i learn from the fight to help the greater population understand and teach to enjoy well achieved skills and production of good art in the streets. Pac
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