Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles

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200 Years of Freedom Mural in Corona, CA

At 7:00 p.m. on June 3, 2015, Hon. Jesus G. Bernal, a United States District Court judge sitting in Riverside, issued a temporary restraining order that forbids the Army Corps of Engineers from taking “any action that could alter, desecrate, destroy or modify in any way” the 200 Years of Freedom Mural. The Court is set to have another hearing on July 13, 2015.

Google goes street: L.A. launch party celebrates public art

Google knows how to throw a party.On Tuesday night, to mark the second installment of the Google Art Project’s Street Art collection – a searchable online database of public artworks around the globe – the tech giant held a lavish re-launch soiree at the popular downtown L.A.

L.A. Gets a New Street Art Maven

If you haven’t heard of the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles (MCLA), it’s time that you two get introduced. You may have driven past the beautiful Olympic murals circa 1984 when you were stuck in traffic on the 101 and noticed that they were freshly spiffed up.

Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles names new president

The Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles, which restores, preserves and documents historic and public art, has a new board president, attorney Eric Bjorgum.Bjorgum has been on the Mural Conservancy board for three years.

L.A.'s mural ordinance is beginning to reveal its effects

 In a hard hat and bright yellow safety vest, artist Willie Herron III crouches atop rickety scaffolding on the shoulder of the 101 Freeway in downtown L.A.

Breaking Into One of Los Angeles' Toughest Boys' Club

Nisha Sembi captures the sights, sounds, and memories from her Motherland through a can of spray paint and the pages of her tattered black book.

Press Release: MCLA's Panel Discussion & Exhibition at the L.A. Show

December 5, 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Will L.A. Reclaim Its Title as “The Mural Capital of the World?”
MCLA’s Panel Discussion & Exhibition at the L.A. Art Show

A Mural Ordinance for Los Angeles

I co-founded a little NGO with artist Kent Twitchell some years ago called the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles. Its Executive Director, Isabel Rojas-Williams, has worked some miracles over the last two years to not only bring those crown jewels back to life, but she has worked tirelessly with the City to draft a modern Mural Ordinance to replace the ban. I've had the opportunity to witness some of the sausage getting made, and let me tell you it ain't easy, especially when you don't have zillions of dollars to shower on paid lobbyists, advertising campaigns, and political back slapping. I happen to favor public servants who mainly want to perform their civic duty and improve the city, not line a few pockets at its expense. - See more at: http://www.visualartsource.com/index.php?page=editorial&aID=1807#sthash....

L.A.’s gray days may be over

The council approved the ordinance by a vote of 13-2 on Aug. 28, prompting many art advocates to rejoice. Though it has issues with some elements of the ordinance, the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles (MCLA) is excited to see L.A. regain its title as “Mural Capital of the World”.
“It’s been eleven years,” MCLA executive director Isabel Rojas-Williams said. “Our muralists have been prisoners of this unfair decision that murals were not allowed on private property. We are very excited about that part. …This is very important for the cultural landscape of Los Angeles.”

LA 's Gray Days May Be Over

Though it has issues with some elements of the ordinance, the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles (MCLA) is excited to see L.A. regain its title as “Mural Capital of the World”.
“It’s been eleven years,” MCLA executive director Isabel Rojas-Williams said. “Our muralists have been prisoners of this unfair decision that murals were not allowed on private property. We are very excited about that part. …This is very important for the cultural landscape of Los Angeles.”

“Los Ángeles se reconcilia con el arte callejero”

"Los muralistas han estado prisioneros y nuestros murales han ido desapareciendo", explicó a Efe la directora de la organización Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles (MCLA), Isabel Rojas Williams, una de las promotoras del cambio normativo.

“Monthly Mural Wrap: A Dozen Tags for August, 2013”

Combine that with MCLA's restoration of art on the 101 Freeway, Los Angeles artists going international, and the national attention on the policy wrangling to give L.A. the chance to regain the title of "mural capital of the world," the last year has been a mini-golden era of outdoor art.

“'Beautify Lincoln' campaign brings murals to a boulevard's businesses”

Artist Seth Wilder frowned when he saw the headline on a stack of newspapers in the Lincoln Boulevard cafe.

"Does this look like a sign?" read the front-page banner in The Argonaut, a South Bay community paper. Beneath it was a photograph of a 102-foot-long mural that moodily pays homage to a 1958 movie filmed on Windward Avenue in Venice. It accompanied a story about how Los Angeles officials were grappling with a new city mural ordinance.

“Los Angeles Lifts Mural Ban, Adopts New Registration System for Artists”

On Wednesday the Los Angeles City Council put the citywide mural ban to a vote and voted 13-2 in favor of passing a new ordinance, the Los Angeles Times reports. With a long history of murals and street art, Los Angeles has been waging a war with large-scale public painting in an effort to control content, particularly commercial imagery, consequently impacting its muralists and street artists.

Isabel Rojas-Williams, executive director of the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles said,:“We owe it to our next generation to reclaim our legacy as a mural capital of the world.”

“Mural Ordinance Passes, But Remains in Policy Purgatory”

One of the biggest of supporters of the ordinance was muralist Kent Twitchell, he painted the Freeway lady along the 101, the LA Marathon Mural, and giant Los Angeles Conservancy portraits next to the 110 freeway in Downtown LA. Twitchell also co founded the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles. He talked with Off-Ramp producer Kevin Ferguson about the new law.

"Los Angeles moves to lift decade-old ban on public murals”

Artists predicted a renaissance of public muraling across Los Angeles as the City Council voted 13-2 Wednesday to lift a decade-long ban on the large outdoor artworks.

"We owe it to our next generation to reclaim our legacy as a mural capital of the world," said Isabel Rojas-Williams, executive director of the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles.

“Los Angeles' mural moratorium could be overturned”

"It's a cultural bridge between the streets and art institutions," said Isabel Rojas-Williams, executive director of the Los Angeles Mural Conservancy, which along with 11 other art groups is urging the city council to OK the new law.

"It is extremely important because not only is it freedom of expression and freedom of speech, but it also attracts tourism, provides jobs and educates and empower people," she said.

“Best of Southern California Street Art”

Willie Herrón III, the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles' official restorer, and his assistant Melody Betancourt, are working on one of the city's prized possessions: Frank Romero's "Going to the Olympics."

“Restoring their grandfather’s murals”

They know nothing of the old Hispanic man who walked these streets for 30 years with a paint brush and a message.

You can make something beautiful happen on the walls of your community, Flores showed them — something to make people proud, not ashamed. Here, take a look.

“The Fate of Public Murals Await L.A. City Council Vote”

The Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles is helping to draft the new ordinance and are hoping for a favorable vote as murals represent more than just artwork. Isabel Rojas-Williams, of the Mural Conservancy of L.A., notes “murals tell the story of the community.”

“LA Murals, Commercial Signs and the First Amendment”

LA's Mural Ordinance (7:07PM)
Murals are so much a part of LA’s cultural tradition that it’s called itself the Mural Capital of the World.” But murals have been banned in the city for more than a decade. On Friday, the City Council will consider two proposals to make them legal again. Version A would allow murals on single family houses, with a provision for neighborhood groups to ask their council member to opt out. Version B would not allow murals on single family houses at all.

Pass the Mural Ordinance Now

Twelve LA-based arts organizations including: Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC), Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles (MCLA), Venice Arts Council (VAC), Plaza de la Raza, Mobile Mural Lab (MML) Self Help Graphics & Art (SHG), Art Share LA, United Painters and Public Artists (UPPA), Mictlan Murals, Siqueiros Foundation of the Arts, Conservancy of Urban Art and LA Freewalls all agree, as stated in a letter to all LA City Councilmembers...

Los Angeles council to vote on lifting ban against mural painting

Los Angeles could see a renaissance of mural painting following last week’s approval by the Planning and Land Use Management Committee of an ordinance that lifts a ban on the creation of murals on private property. The city council is due to vote on the ordinance on 20 August, potentially reversing restrictions that have been in effect for a decade.
Although originally intended to slow the spread of public advertisements and commercial signage, opponents say the ban has instead hindered the work of artists across LA, whose murals beautify neighbourhoods and bolster community pride. “Art and culture are central to our economy and the lifeblood of the city,” says the city council member Gilbert Cedillo. “I think we need to lift the ban.”

“It’s going to help to make Los Angeles one of the most creative cities in the world,” says Isabel Rojas-Williams, the executive director at the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles (MCLA), which recruited artists and community leaders to help draft the ordinance. “We have worked so hard. It’s a fantastic step forward.”

Is a policy shift in the picture for Los Angeles murals?

"We look to Paris or we look to Florence, they have their gorgeous public art, right?" says Isabel Rojas-Williams, executive director of the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles, which supports the new measure. "Why can't we do that? Why can't we have our own Sistine Chapel on the streets?"

Arguments over L.A.'s mural ban paint different pictures

Isabel Rojas-Williams, an art historian and executive director of the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles, said that other cities, such as Portland, Ore., and Philadelphia, have encouraged new murals in recent years.

But Los Angeles, she said, has had a love-hate relationship with murals ever since the 1930s, when the city allowed the "America Tropical" mural in downtown Los Angeles, by the Mexican master painter David Alfaro Siqueiro, to be whitewashed because of its provocative image of a Mexican Indian being lashed to a cross presided over by an eagle symbolizing the United States. The work finally was restored and unveiled last fall in a new interpretive center.

Mural Ordinance Scheduled for City Council? Not Yet

Last Thursday, in the final month of three terms, he held court at Avenue 50 Studio's gallery space in Highland Park, a visit that came by way of an invitation by the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles to provide an update on the ordinance. The room was filled with muralists and stakeholders who came ready with questions. With a hoarse voice that had a slight resignation, he updated the audience on the status of the ordinance.

Mural Discussion at LA Art Show Sheds Light on Public Art

The talk, moderated by Isabel Rojas‐Williams, Executive Director, Mural Conservancy Los Angeles (MCLA), shed light on the importance of weaving public art with politics and the community. All of the speakers, regardless of their current positions on murals, agreed on the idea of public art creating an impact on the surrounding community. All the panel speakers continue to work towards an ordinance that will make public art legal. The speakers also kept in mind the idea of youth, graffiti and the city’s past as they stressed the importance of allowing artists the opportunity to create large-scale pieces that positively influence society.

L.A.'s Mural Mania

Check us out in Sunset Magazine's June issue ("L.A.'s mural mania," pg 34L)! "There are so many different languages, religions, and cultures in L.A., and they are all expressed in our public art. The murals are where all the colors of our city come together!" (Isabel Rojas-Williams, MCLA's Executive Director."

Monthly Mural Wrap: A Dozen Tags for May, 2013

The Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles unveiled three newly completed restorations in Boyle Heights May 18: "Rescate" by John Zender Estrada at Cesar E. Chavez and Evergreen Avenues; "Flor de Canela" by Zender in Pico Gardens, and "Painting the Importance of Life" by Raul Gonzalez at Penrith and Whittier Boulevard.

Uncovered Olympic Glories: Murals Restoration on the 101 Freeway

As the sun beat down on the earth, heat fizzled from the surrounding concrete, sizzling the temperature a few degrees higher. Perched on scaffolding at the edge of the 101 freeway, artist Willie Herrón III and his assistant Melody Betancourt bake in the sun while wearing hard hats and day-glo vests.

The D.C.-Lincoln Heights Connection

As we began planning the upcoming issue, we could resist no longer. Fortunately, we discovered the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles and SPARC (Social and Public Art Resource Center), organizations that document murals and fight for their preservation. The Mural Conservancy, in particular, posts an extensive database with images of L.A. murals that is searchable by location, title, artist and topic. That allowed us to plan the murals we’d shoot, rather than wander L.A.’s streets for weeks. Members of the conservancy can also take custom tours of murals, led by Executive Director Isabel Rojas-Williams, and I joined one that featured some 10 murals within walking distance of Olvera St. in downtown Los Angeles.

Roadside Attractions: A Look at the Los Angeles Marathon Murals

Isabel Rojas-Williams, the executive director of the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles, says that the graffiti defacing the murals around the city got particularly bad in the late 1990s as arts programs began getting cut in L.A.’s public schools. She thinks the problem was exacerbated during the financial crisis because there was less money to pay for removing graffiti, so it stayed up longer, even in high-traffic locations.

Infusing the freeways with art: Mural conservancy restores hidden gems

I had to wear a hard hat and day-glo vest to see the murals on the 101. All you need to do is gaze safely out of the window of your car. A million people ride through downtown each day, and, bit by bit, they’re being reintroduced to thirty-year old bursts of color, in the form of murals.

The artworks were first commissioned for the 1984 Olympics. Taggers and the elements have had their way with them, and the state painted over them a while back. Now, thanks to the Mural Conservancy Project of Los Angeles, they’re coming back to life. Executive Director Isabel Rojas-Williams gave me the tour of the shoulder. She calls the conservation work “our Sistine Chapel.”

Murals in the Southland

There are more than 1,600 documented murals across Los Angeles, with 507 on private property -- and thousands more that aren't on the books. Los Angeles' love affair with its murals reached its zenith in 1986, when the city issued a blanket exemption permitting outdoor murals.

Bringing back a piece of L.A.'s Olympic glory

The midweek traffic along the 101 Freeway is sluggish this afternoon, but that's nothing compared to two cars along this route that have been stalled for years.

The vehicles, bright pink and yellow, are part of artist Frank Romero's mural, "Going to the Olympics," which he painted on the freeway wall in 1984. It was one of 10 murals commissioned that year for the Olympic Arts Festival to commemorate L.A.'s hosting the Games.

Art is Not A Crime

Awesome participation by Saber and all involved! It has been a long journey, but we are closer than ever to lift the Mural Moratorium. Thank you Ryan Gattis & Evan Skrederstu for mentioning MCLA's mural restorations of the on the 101 by our awesome commissioned restorer Willie Herrón. We at MCLA are proud to bring back our historic murals and by doing so, to bring back LA's history!

The Word on Los Angeles as Subject for Fine Art

"Rebuilding our Heritage" became a recanting of personal perspectives on the future of murals, with Isabel Rojas-Williams, Executive Director of the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles, as moderator.

The panelists included artist Glenna Avila, who spoke about her revived "L.A. Freeway Kids" painted in 1984 for the Los Angeles Olympics. "This is not an art people can have and own," she said. "It is an art people can see".

MCLA Panel at LA Art Show 1/26/13

"Rebuilding Our Heritage: Ordinance Reform and the Impending Mural Resurgence in L.A." was presented by the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles (MCLA), artists, political representatives, non-profits, and gallery owners, discuss their participation in the current mural resurgence in Los Angeles. A resurgence that will help transform our visual landscape to enhance civic pride, boost tourism, and provide job creation. Moderator: Isabel Rojas-Williams (Executive director, MCLA). Lecture sponsored by Visual Art Source, ArtScene, and art ltd.

Los Angeles: LA’s Historic Murals Get A Welcome Facelift

Last October, David Alfaro Siqueiros’ mural "América Tropical" (1932) was unveiled after a $10 million restoration funded by the City of Los Angeles and the Getty Conservation Institute. The Los Angeles mural, located on the upper level of a building in the El Pueblo district, had been whitewashed over—literally—eight years after it was created. It was considered too leftist. The central figure was a crucified peon, a comment on imperialist oppression of the poor and dispossessed. Today the whitewash has been carefully removed, and the work is once again available for public viewing. Nearby there’s also the new América Tropical Interpretive Center, with exhibits about the mural’s history and conservation process.

LA is getting its murals back!

Back in July, muralists from all over Los Angeles filled up room 340 in City Hall to find out that the LA City Mural Ordinance could not be agreed on and we’d all have to wait until September to find out when and under what circumstances original art murals on private property would be legal again. But then in September the City postponed it to October. After a 10-year Mural Moratorium, artists were getting tired and fed up. (Here’s the link to my post back in July about the Public Hearing in case you missed it.)

BREAKING: Ordinance to Lift L.A.’s Mural Ban Passes

Ten years after a city-wide moratorium on wall paintings in public view was instituted in Los Angeles, the Department of City Planning has passed an ordinance to lift the ban, inviting a wave of restrained optimism among muralists and street art advocates. “This is the first step,” mural conservationist Isabel Rojas-Williams told ARTINFO after leaving City Hall Thursday afternoon, noting that the ordinance is still subject to review by the Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) commission, and subsequently by the city council.

Will the Rebirth of "América Tropical" Inspire a Mural Renaissance in L.A.?

by Reid Singer
Published: October 10, 2012
“The mural gods are aligned with us,” conservationist Isabel Rojas-Williams said over the phone, somehow audibly smiling as she talked about the unveiling of David Alfaro Siqueiros’s painting “América Tropical” (1932) which took place yesterday in downtown Los Angeles.

Murals Restored

These two murals, Jim Morphesis Monument and Lita Albuquerque Monument, painted by Kent Twitchell for the 1984 Summer Olympics have been recently restored by the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles (MCLA) in coordination with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). MCLA plans to restore other freeways murals in the area.

Saving L.A.'s Olympic Murals One At A Time

The mission to recover lost murals on the Los Angeles freeways has moved on to restoring kids playing on the freeway.

It is an ambitious program by the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles. They hope to restore all the historic murals created for the 1984 Summer Olympic Games, or at least as many as possible, said Isabel Rojas-Williams, MCLA Executive Director.

Monthly Mural Wrap: A Dozen Tags for August, 2012

This month's survey of notable mural and street art stories, there are a few homages to artists who passed away, street art value is on the rise, and some chatter about a dragon in Ventura.

Historic 'Struggle' to be Heard at Public Hearing

by Ed Fuentes
on August 27, 2012 10:54 AM
[UDPATE 9/4: The Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission unanimously voted down the Save the First Street Store Coalition's request for an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the First Street Store site at the August 29 hearing.

The Pacific Charter School Development can now move forward with its first stage of redevelopment, which starts with taking down a rear section of the former store to handle parking for an additional project next door, a proposed Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy. Full story here.]

The call to action to save a mural as it is installed on a potentially historic building is reaching the public hearing stage.

Mural Conservancy: Here's How to Get the Mural Ordinance Right

by Ed Fuentes
on August 8, 2012 12:10 PM
KCET Departures "Writing on the Wall" guest editorial series continues with the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles in response over the debate of the city of Los Angeles mural ordinance.

Getting The Mural Ordinance Right
by Bill Lasarow, Judithe Hernández, and Isabel Rojas-Williams

Since 2002, the unintended consequence of an existing ordinance, enacted to curb the proliferation of commercial signage, effectively prohibited the painting of murals on private property. When it was announced a year ago that the ordinance would be rewritten, artists had reason to be hopeful.

Chicanarte: L.A. Mural Ban

(City Hall, El Lay. July 12, 2012) I marvel at the City of Los Angeles’ palatial council chamber. Magnificent marble columns whose understated capitals allow eyes to wander across murals painted twenty feet overhead on vaulted alcoves. Up there above my head, Calliope stands like a sprig of mistletoe in Winter. I toss my speaking notes and go with poetry, a la brava.

Mural Ordinance Grievances: What to Expect

[UPDATE 1:30 p.m.: As expected, the debate was long. After several hours, it was decided that the City Planning Commission will revisit the mural ordinance at a Sept 13 meeting.]

Around now, in City Hall room 340, the Mural Ordinance Report Recommendations are undergoing public comment, a long road that seems to have no end in sight. In brief, murals were collateral damage, prevented from being produced, while the city and media companies had wall turf wars in the courts. After that dust was settled, City Planning took to rewriting municipal codes to have mural removed out from under the defination of signs, so Los Angeles can once again have works on private property and restore itself as Mural Capital Of The World.

East Meets West: A Nuyorican Tours East LA

During the early 1990s, images of the gang life in East LA were all the rage. Talk shows like Sally Jessy Raphael and Jenny Jones featured “Gang Girls” with their signature bandanas and penciled eyebrows. Snoop Dog and Dr. Dre were churning out multiple hits and for part of my childhood, from my corner of the gritty Northeast, I wore my plaid shirts and Doc Martins wondering what it was like on the West Coast.
Nearly two decades later, I was invited on a group tour of Eastern Los Angeles. This was not a typical trip to LA --there were no walks of fame on this agenda. Instead, this trip was about visiting the stomping grounds of the Chicano civil rights movement and getting a crash course in southern California’s Mexican-American history.

Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/2012/05/30/east-meets-west-nu...

by Ed Fuentes Buffed Out Street Art a Case Study for Mural Ordinance

Early Monday morning a graff-style piece was buffed out despite the building owner granting permission for the piece to be created.

The building fits in a triangle parcel at South Main Street , and East Third Street in Downtown Los Angeles, between a parking structure and the St. George Hotel. It houses a small wholesale business.

Openings: Urban Legends @ L.A. Mart Design Center

Last weekend at the L.A. Mart Design Center, the Urban Legends auction and exhibition opened their doors to the public. With a series of largescale pieces, murals, photographs, and installations, artists around the world like Chor Boogie, Kofie, Mear One, Shark Toof, Cern, Estria, Martha Cooper, Sand One, Herakut, SANER, Estevan Oriol, Eriberto Oriol, Chaz Bojorquez, RETNA, Andrew Hem, and more were invited to put their work on display.

Art and Development On Collision Path In East LA

East Los Angeles area stakeholders are debating the pros and cons of two new charter schools moving to the site once occupied by the First Street Store in unincorporated East Los Angeles.
At the heart of the debate is whether a mural located on the now closed store’s exterior should be retained as is, removed, or reconfigured to fit the plans of a new charter school.

The Convoluted Path to Ending Los Angeles's Mural Ban

Once regarded as the mural capital of the world, Los Angeles in recent years has lost a good deal of its street art cred. Decades of loose regulation on signs and murals led to some creative law-skirting by outdoor advertising firms, bringing about a string of lawsuits and rule changes – and more lawsuits and more rule changes. The eventual result was an all-out moratorium on new murals.

Plans to build new school raise concerns over the fate of an East L.A. mural and First Street landmark

Murals are what make East Los Angeles a destination for many art lovers and also serve to inspire up-and-coming artists. But one of East L.A.’s iconic murals - “A Story of Our Struggle,” a nearly forty-year-old tile artwork composed of multiple panels spread across the facade of the former First Street Store – is in jeopardy, say mural advocates. A developer wants to demolish the building and construct a new charter school campus that will include the mural somewhere on the property. But mural advocates, who have enlisted the help of County Supervisor Gloria Molina, want the building facade preserved and the mural to remain overlooking First Street.

Artists return to restore the faded glory of Boyle Heights murals

It has been nearly 40 years since Ernesto de La Loza painted a lush, abstracted landscape on the side of a two-story building in a Boyle Heights housing project. He was one of several Chicano artists who turned Estrada Courts into an outdoor museum filled with vibrant murals reflecting social issues, political struggles and ethnic pride. While admirers from around the world traveled down Olympic Boulevard to see the approximately 80 murals that once filled the walls of Estrada Courts, the public artworks – including De La Loza’s “Organic Stimulus” – have over the decades been bleached by the sun and tagged by vandals. But on Sunday, De La Loza, a longtime Echo Park resident, was back at Estrada Courts to rededicate his mural, which was once again alive with bold colors and brush strokes after an approximately two-month long restoration. It is the most recent attempt to revive the Estrada Court murals and the first to be restored under a new program sponsored by the Murals Conservancy of Los Angeles. The goal is to raise attention and money to restore the others.

by Ed Fuentes Echo Park 'Quinceañera' Mural To Be Saved

Echo Park's mural "Quinceañera," a 1996 work by Theresa Powers, was seen being sandblasted off the former Pescado Mojado restaurant Friday, prompting an online firestorm by mural activists.

Mural Ordinance Public Meeting Period Does Not End Quietly

A final public meeting on the mural ordinance draft was held earlier this month, giving artists one more night to butt heads with policy makers and differing perspectives before the draft heads back to City Hall. (The deadline to submit comments for the zoning code amendment was February 8th).

Lost and Ruined Mural Re-Born

With so much pedo in El Lay's local governance, I'll take all the evidence I can find, especially when it comes in the form of grants to restore faded artifacts of muralism's movimiento heyday in the 1970s, like Ernesto de La Loza's 1975 "Organic Stimulus" in historic Estrada Courts.

Mural Ordinance Panel Discussion @ Known Gallery (Los Angeles)

As murals go up by the dozens all across Miami during Art Basel Week, an important movement in the legalization of murals is taking place in the opposite part of the country, right in the heart of Los Angeles. Last night, the Known Gallery hosted a special event and group discussion focusing on a possible new mural ordinance which could affect the legality and acceptance of L.A.-based murals for years to come.

Restoration of Twitchell's 'Jim Morphesis Monument' Begins

The Los Angeles Mural Conservancy is leading the restoration of Kent Twitchell's "Jim Morphesis Monument," one segment of his "Seventh Street Altarpiece" at Grand and the 101 Freeway. The 1984 Olympic-era mural began undergoing graffiti removal Tuesday by mural conservation expert Scott Haskins.

Mural Capital of the World: A Paradise Lost? Or Can LA Bring it Back

by Dan Watson and Jacob Chung

One of LA’s most famous muralists, Kent Twitchell, remembers the 1960s and 70s fondly. It was a time when an artistic paradise bloomed in Los Angeles. “We turned it into the Mural Capital of the World,” says Twitchell, recalling an LA that left murals unregulated, and when graffiti was of no real concern. Decades later, most public murals, even his, are of a bygone era, either removed, defaced beyond recognition or neglected to the point of complete destruction.

Boyle Heights Streets a Canvas: But Historic Murals Are Neglected

By Angel Lizarraga

The streets of Boyle Heights are like an art gallery, with walls that act as canvases. Images of brown pride and indigenous symbols tell stories from the past, and the now faded colors of decades-old murals still brighten the community.

END OF A SHOW: ART IN THE STREETS 'HOMAGE' TAKEN DOWN

MOCA's "Art in the Streets began with a heavily documented whitewash a few weeks before the show opened. it ended with another Saturday, and only a few people caught it.
One lone observer was Art Historian and Executive Director of the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles, Isabel Rojas-Williams, who says the whitewashing began shortly before noon at the Geffen. "I must say that we all probably knew that this whitewashing was to come once 'Art in the Streets' was no more at the Geffen Contemporary."