My Backwards Beekeeping buddy, Amy Seidenwurm says:
We are being ordered by the city of LA to paint over our mural by March 1st. You posted Russell’s time-lapse video of Philip Lumbang painting it back in the spring and it has become quite beloved in our neighborhood. Sadly, one of our neighbors hates it and complained to the city that he felt it would bring crime to the neighborhood.
Apparently you need a permit to paint a mural on private property in LA, but there is currently no governing body issuing permits. Murals have gotten lumped into illegal advertising and there is a whole city brouhaha about such things that will surely go on for a long while. So, we’re screwed and not a little bummed out.
Any ideas on ways to preserve the mural would be great. I’ve been talking to a couple of people on our neighborhood council and in LA Cultural Affairs and so far they agree that it is silly but that we are caught in a bureaucratic no-win.
I’ve attached a photo of the highly-offensive art in question. Since he painted the mural and the video got viewed like crazy Philip has had solo exhibitions in SF and LA and his work was on the cover of Giant Robot. He credits this for much of his recent success.
Here’s a post about this on Eastsider LA.