Clean a Painting by William Wendt – Most Colorful Wendt You’ve Ever Seen? George Stern Finds Treasure

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Scott M. Haskins




William Wendt California Poppies

After cleaning




William Wendt’s (1865-1946) paintings were often produced with a predominately green appearance or predominately brown. So, is this the most colorful painting you’ve ever seen by Wendt? Leave a comment below.

George Stern found this painting at the last minute before the beginning of the LA Art Show that will be held at the LA Convention Center next week. It was a hurry up art conservation project that we loved to do. In fact, we delivered the gorgeous “thang” today! Its been with us all this last week and the transformation was wonderful.

The really discolored layer of old varnish and grime came off quite easily and, of course made quite a difference in the appearance. But, after we got it cleaned, it still seemed gray to us. We hummed and hawed, tested with other solvents than what we had been using but not much changed. There was an overall softness or lack of “pop.” Then after we seemed to have tried everything, Painting Conservator Virginia Panizzon found a customized mixture that broke the code. We were all amazed, actually, at the difference in color with the removal of the gray layer (a VERY hard linseed oil coating).




Hard gray layer coating removal from Wendt




Usually, the removal of a gray linseed oil layer doesn’t make THAT much difference in the dark colors. While it is usually a wonderful difference in the lighter colors and allows the light in the colors to really shine, look at the color difference in the dark greens in this photo! With the removal of the gray layer, we got the original spectacular sparkle we were hoping to find. After it was safely cleaned (no original paint loss or removal) the correct kind of varnish makes sure that the colors show off their best.

In addition to the cleaning, the painting was cracked over the entire surface and a lining brought all the paint layers back into plane and they disappeared in the process. The painting looks perfect.

Don’t you love this painting? I do.

If you are an art collector, there is a lesson to learn here: George consults with me often about what is possible in the art conservation – art restoration process… and George has boucoup experience! So, I invite you to open up a relationship and dialog with me and let FACL, Inc. be your ace in the hole.

A suggestion: Check out the instructional CD for inspecting paintings with a UV light at https://www.fineartconservationlab.com/uv-blacklight/

Scott M. Haskins 805 564 3438

Art appraisals: Richard at 805 895 5121

See George Stern talk about why he works with FACL in the very short video: [sdgnATVV1Lc]

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“Fine Art Conservation” and “Tips for Art Collectors”.

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Sonya Rapoport Post War Expressionist Painting, Thought To Be Ruined, Saved, Picked Up in Carmel, CA and Awaiting Painting Conservation

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Scott M. Haskins

FACL, Inc. has many clients in the Carmel, CA area including the cities of Carmel and Monterey, The Monterey Museum of Art, The Monterey Maritime Museum and numerous galleries in Carmel. Some of those galleries include Trotter Galleries, Karges Fine Art, Del Monte Fine Art, Westbrook Galleries, Josh Hardy Galleries, Carmel Fine Arts, Jim Rieser Gallery, Portnoy Gallery, Winfied Gallery and David Keaton, though not an established gallery sells out of his home. All of these dealers are specialized in either early California Impressionist Art or Post Wax Abstract Expressionism. We also do work for many private clients including a huge mural job in the stone castle on Pescadero Point known as the historical Clark Estate. Here’s a photo from our work in this highly inaccessible property. I’m getting ready to put together a page on this website dedicated to telling about the very interesting project.



Dining Room at Clark Estate



This was a trip to work with and talk mostly about Post War Expressionism which I always enjoy. Looking at abstract art is kind of like learning to speak another language. There’s a different vibe. I’m in the middle of going through the new biography on Steve Jobs and in it the author talks about Steve’s immersion into the counter culture of the 60’s and 70’s. Post War Expressionism is the intellectual and serious art of that historic international movement. Here is a new/old painting that was just salvaged from distruction. It was thought to be ruined! Not Hardly! Its by Sonya Rapoport and is dated 1954. She was part of the internationally important Berkley School of abstraction.



Sonya Rapoport 1954 Abstract


This painting is approximately 28 x 36, oil on canvas. We will consolidate flaking paint, do minimal inpainting, line it and put it onto new stretcher bars. We will stop the deterioration and stabilize it far into the future. It will look fresh, clean and beautiful for generations to come. Come and see us at the LA Art Expo this next week. I’ll probably have the Rapoport there for you to look at.

It was a gorgeous day in Carmel. What a nice drive… beautiful place, talking art, preserving the past… somebody’s got to do it…

Art conservation questions? Call Scott at 805 564 3438

Art appraisal questions? Call Richard at 805 895 5121

Posted in Travel | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Graffiti Removal AGAIN From Morphesis by Twitchell under Grant Ave. Overpass in LA

Posted on January 7, 2012 by Scott M. Haskins


This tagger was caught while tagging someplace else the same weekend

This is one of the “monikers” that we got tagged with last weekend, the day after we finished the removal of the huge tag of the bottom half of the mural. This graffiti covered about a 4′ x  10′ area. Interesting thing is that this vandal got picked up by police the same weekend he tagged us while he was tagging someplace else! So, the Sheriff is “on it.” They know who the other guy is too, I think. And we caught them on video!


We would have gotten to the wall for the removal last Tues. but there were logistic issues from Caltrans. Today was a quickie: we took off both decent sized tags in about an hour. Here are a couple of interesting newsy technical items:

1. Caltran wanted to try an “approved” varnish that remains water soluble. That means we should be able to wash it and the graffiti off in water. I’m doubtful but we put some on the mural today to test it. In this photo we’re rollin’ it on…

We should be able to report back on how it works in a week or so (we’re almost hoping to get tagged again to see how it works).

2. We got the graffiti paint off nice and slick. We’re getting into the groove.

OK, so stay in touch. Consider a nice fat donation to MCLA to help keep graffiti off (maintenance) or sponsor an entire mural – make it yours! Go to www.muralconservancy.org and speak with Isabel Rojas-Williams at 213 291 6900

Mural conservation questions? Ask Scott at 213 620 9125

At appraisal questions? Call Richard at 805 895 5121

Follow us on Facebook at Save Freeway Murals

XOX.. over and out… for now.

Posted in Murals | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Morphesis Re-Tagged The Day After Re-Cleaning… WAR!!!!! But we’re kind of smiling because…

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Scott M. Haskins

As I was finishing up an answer to a comment on the blog post about the new surveillance system (https://www.fineartconservationlab.com/murals/video-surveillance-of-public-art-mural-catching-graffiti-vandals) when the phone rang and it was Vincent Moreno, Vandalism Abatement Coordinator for Caltrans.

WAR!!!!! The mural got tagged again last night! But we are smiling, kind of…Here’s the low down: If you’ve been following this, you know that on Thurs of this week we finished cleaning off the graffiti and a new video surveillance system was installed at the mural. Vincent was sure that the mural would be re-tagged in an effort by the vandals to “make their statement.” Well, he was right!

Vincent passed by the mural last evening at about 8:45 to check on the video cameras and he was notified at 9:51 that the camera alarms had been set off. It appears that the vandals hit this part of the mural (see photo):


Area that was re-tagged

This is the area that was re-tagged


Vincent said that it looked like they were about to graffiti over the entire lower half like they did last time but had only started on the first couple of letters when they got scared and ran off.  We don’t know if they saw the video cameras or got scared off by someone. I don’t have an actual photo of the tag. I won’t see it till Monday.

Actually, Vincent and I are, in a way, glad for this attempt to re-tag the mural because it puts to the test the equipment just installed. There are several things that need to be fine tuned when a system like this is installed: with this video we may be able to identify the taggers (Vincent won’t see the video till Monday). Is the video good enough to see them clearly? It gives Vincent something by which to judge the quality of the IR viewing capabilities, the focus, the placement of the cameras, the quality of the system.

From what Vincent says, it appears that not much of the mural has been tagged and if they don’t come back to finish the job later and make a bigger mess, then I’m hoping that we will be able to remove this tagging in a few hours. If they do come back to finish the job, the cameras will be reset and waiting for them.

We’re going to be back “on the wall” Monday at 11 am to clean it off.

So, what do you think? Keep going back to clean off the graffiti? Or give up and let the vandals win? Public art and social order or graffiti and anarchy? Leave a comment below and give us your support with a THUMBS UP!

Want to contribute something to help keep the graffiti off the murals? Donate here: http://www.indiegogo.com/jimmorphesismonument


After tagging removed Dec 2011

Mural with graffiti removed December 2011


Restoration questions? Call Scott Haskins at 213 620 9125

See testimonials of FACL services: https://www.fineartconservationlab.com/testimonials

Questions for the artist? Kent Twitchell 310 709 2037

Here is the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles’ website: http://www.muralconservancy.org

“Like” us or be our “Friend” on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Freeway-Murals-Los-Angeles/306554516039121

video surveillance, protecting public art, kent twitchell, jim morphesis, caltrans, 1984 olympic freeway murals, scott haskins, FACL, MCLA, mural conservation, art restoration, mural conservancy, graffiti removal, mural maintenance, catching taggers

Posted in Murals | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Video Surveillance of Public Art Mural- Catching Graffiti Vandals

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Scott M. Haskins

This original blog post of graffiti removal and catching graffiti vandals with video cameras was written in 2011… 9 years ago. Now, with hind-sight being 20/20, I’ve added a few UPDATE comments at the end of this blog post.

Newly Restored Mural Tagged

Newly Restored Mural Tagged

This mural, along with 10 others by some of the most prominent art masters, were given to the people of the  City of Los Angeles as part of the 1984 Olympic celebration to promote civic pride; one of the goals of all public art. Frank Romero, the artist of one of the most famous of these murals gives a dose of reality:

“All of the murals on that stretch of the 101 went for 13 years without being hit by the taggers,” he said. “After that, a few timid marks appeared. Then, suddenly this year (1998), they went wild. Tags appeared everywhere. It felt like part of me was dying.”

So now, murals, once a sanctuary honored by tagging vandals, are fair game. And it doesn’t take too long before the artwork, once clean, is completely obliterated again. But wouldn’t you think that technology could lend a hand in protecting… or at least catching vandals defacing public property?

The restoration – conservation of the Jim Morphesis Monument, a 1984 Olympic Freeway mural by Kent Twitchell, was the first of this series of murals to be the beginning of a renewed effort to save the murals and bring the public art back into view. Click here for more info: Save Free Murals. But four days after the mural was returned to its original glory, graffiti vandals unmercifully plastered the entire lower half with spray paint. See https://www.fineartconservationlab.com/murals/morphesis-mural-that-we-just-finished-tagged-big-time/. This, of course, infuriated MCLA, the sponsoring organization that organized the restoration work (www.muralconservancy.org), Caltrans, who has been an enthusiastic partner in re-revealing the artwork-murals along the freeways but also the law enforcement agencies were/are really “agitated.”

24 hours after we were notified that the mural was hit, we were back on the site to start the graffiti removal. That day, we had several interviews, right there on the freeway, with law enforcement and Caltrans. There seems to be more to graffiti than just making a public wall look bad: gang activity (drugs and guns) is related to it and the pride of the city is at stake in letting the anarchist mentality have expression by destruction of predominant public locations. It might surprise you that this is an felony offense.

Yesterday, Caltrans Vandalism Abatement co-ordinator Vincent Moreno brought me up to date on progress: The law enforcement agencies are very interested in catching these “bad guys” and have identified the people who are behind the monikers, initials or symbols that were painted. So, the law enforcement process is underway to track these guys down. Three agencies have committed to following through both in identifying the vandals and in surveillance of the mural: the CHP, The Sheriff’s Dept. and the LAPD. Caltrans, of course, wants to keep the freeways clean of graffiti but Vincent is also intent on getting the convicted vandals to pay for the graffiti clean up. “I want to get restitution from these guys and get the money back to MCLA for the mural maintenance program.”

One of the tools for catching the bad guys that is being installed this week is video surveillance on the Jim Morphesis Monument. This is an idea that seems to be on the minds of many who are following this blog as we have been working on the art conservation and restoration. But its not as easy as just buying any ol’ video surveillance camera. In fact, when Vincent told me about the video cameras I challenged him on the usefulness becaause so often you see a bank video or a market video and with all the good lighting, you still can’t see a face clear enough to ID someone… and this mural is located in a low light or no light situation, especially at night. Vincent said he has evaluated many different qualities and evaluated their performance. These are special cameras with infrared that have proven themselves. They are particularly good at picking up faces, license plates etc. Vincent will make daily visits to check up on the equipment to ensure its proper performance too. The video system will also have the capacity to immediately communicate to law enforcement to notify that taggers are present. The hope is for immediate response.

After Graffiti Removal

Graffiti removal was completed yesterday. I suspect that there will be other taggings. The  will and the way are in place and we’ll be there to keep the graffiti off. But,. taggers beware, there is going to be an official response and hell to pay. Its a pleasure to work with an organization like MCLA and Caltrans who have the tenacity and resolve.

Update 2019

Here are a few bullet points you may find interesting:

  1. Lots of things changed right from the beginning (after I posted the 2011 article). The artist run organization at MCLA wanted to maintain their own murals along the 101 freeway so my research and methodologies were handed over for a much lower quality clean up effort, and a less efficiently run response program when the murals got tagged. So, politics change… BUT… Caltrans, which has a required response time for tagging, it appears, has loosened their requirements for cleaning off tags knowing that there is ongoing community support. In other words, if Caltrans didn’t see the community interest and efforts, perhaps, they would just paint out the graffiti and the murals (again).
  2. This mural and the others (except Frank Romero’s cars… which I love and the kids playing) along the 101 freeway have been tagged many times over the years and the video surveillance I discussed with Vincent Moreno has never produced any actionable info. The video surveillance has also not dissuaded or discouraged any tagging that we can tell.
  3. The GodFather and Guardian Angel, Vincent Moreno passed away sadly. RIP and blessings to his family.

Restoration questions? Call Scott Haskins at 213 620 9125

See testimonials of FACL services: https://www.fineartconservationlab.com/testimonials

Questions for the artist? Kent Twitchell 310 709 2037

“Like” us or be our “Friend” on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Freeway-Murals-Los-Angeles/306554516039121

video surveillance, protecting public art, kent twitchell, jim morphesis, caltrans, 1984 olympic freeway murals, scott haskins, FACL, mural conservation, art restoration, mural restoration, graffiti removal from murals, public art

Posted in Murals | Tagged , , , , , , , | 22 Comments

Kent Twitchell’s Morphesis mural, of which that we just finished the mural conservation,… tagged big time!

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Scott M. Haskins

I just posted one week ago the final details and short video of the completion of the art conservation/mural restoration/graffiti removal from the Jim Morphesis Monument by Kent Twitchell (https://www.fineartconservationlab.com/projects/murals/art-conservation-of-exquisite-mural-on-los-angeles-freeway-completed/). That was on Wednesday. Sometime that same weekend, the mural got graffitied. Caltrans Vandalism Abatement Supervisor Vincent Moreno called me Monday morning and in a voice similar to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles said, “Dude, you got creamed.”


Just cleaned, Jim Morphesis Monument mural with new graffiti

4 or 5 days after completion of restoration, major graffiti hit across the entire bottom half. But, actually, this is not a bad thing...

I’ve been waiting for this to happen. “What took you dudes so long?” I’ve been hoping it would happen actually, but I hoped it would happen while we were doing the art conservation/ mural restoration. Whatever… so now the inevitable has happened. It will happen again and again and again. One might think that this would be an impossible task to keep graffiti off of murals in downtown LA.  I’ve had this discussion, of course, with lots of people. If you are asking yourself what’s the use or why go to the trouble, here’s a short dialog entitled: “So, is it useless to try and protect murals from graffiti vandals?” Its about 3/4 down the page: https://www.fineartconservationlab.com/jim-morphesis-monument-by-kent-twitchell/

So, why am I glad this happened? We have needed fresh graffiti so we can test our methods for removing it. We’ve got logistics to work out; since we are ready and organized to mobilize when we get a call, we have needed to standardize the way to make the maintenance visits so the whole process can run as smoothly as possible. I’ve needed to test and try different removal methods so we can calculate the costs and time required for removal in order to make the effort more efficient.


Anarchists strike

Social disorder... newly tagged, just restored mural


Hence, my reserved and calm manner as we address this vandalism. The cleaning-removal of the new graffiti is proving very different than the first cleaning that removed 8 years of accumulated old graffiti (which is how long ago it was cleaned last time according to Caltrans). But I’m sure that the details of those processes would bore you to tears… maybe I already have.

Oh! Here’s something interesting. Yesterday, as we were working on the mural, a black 4 door car stopped in the slow lane in front of the mural and a 30ish year old male hispanic leaned over from the driver’s seat and started taking pictures. Vincent, the Caltrans guy that was with us, went nuts telling him to drive on and the guy just laughed while he shot pics of us, the graffiti and our equipment. They he drove off. We wrote down his license plate number and reported him to the police. Vincent and the police said that it common for the taggers to come back to their tags and take pictures to post on the internet to brag. Later the police got back to us and said that the license didn’t match any info they had in their taggers database but there were going to run it through the criminal database and keep looking. Both Caltrans and the police were hoping it would turn into a lead to prosecute the vandals. Here’s more about what’s being done: https://www.fineartconservationlab.com/projects/murals/video-surveillance-of-public-art-mural-catching-graffiti-vandals/

We got the call about the new graffiti on Monday. We were “on it” with the removal Tues. morning. We’ll be on it when it happens again. We have lots to talk about as we begin work on other murals and hunt down the anarchist vandals. You can check out our progress at www.savefreewaymurals.com. Sign up for the auto-updates in the upper right corner and please give us a THUMBS UP! Feel free to leave your comments.


Removing graffiti from a mural

Starting the removal process


Graffiti removal almost done

The bulk of the graffiti removed.

The mural is now back to looking its best. This was a good test. Caltrans got to see us jump into action action and respond to the tagging right away which warms their heart. MCLA and Kent Twitchell also were able to see our commitment to making this maintenance program work and to see our love for these murals. Commuters on the 101 southbound got to see that the City of Los Angeles is serious about keep the graffiti off. We’re hoping that some of those commuters are politicians and corporate types that will be impressed and will want to support the effort…

Want to contribute something to help keep the graffiti off the murals? Donate here: http://www.indiegogo.com/jimmorphesismonument

Several people have been asking about what is being done about catching the tagging vandals and why we don’t put up video surveillance cameras to monitor the public art site. Here is the update on that question: https://www.fineartconservationlab.com/projects/murals/video-surveillance-of-public-art-mural-catching-graffiti-vandals/


Restoration questions? Call Scott Haskins at 213 620 9125

See testimonials of FACL services: https://www.fineartconservationlab.com/testimonials

Questions for the artist? Kent Twitchell 310 709 2037

Here is the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles’ website: http://www.muralconservancy.org

“Like” us or be our “Friend” on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Freeway-Murals-Los-Angeles/306554516039121


graffiti abatement, mural maintenance, graffiti removal, Scott Haskins, MCLA, Mural conservancy, Kent Twitchell, Jim Morphesis, art conservation, video surveillance of public art, vandalism of public art

Posted in Murals | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Historical Street Art Mural – Strother Martin Mural by Kent Twitchell- Gets Tagged and…

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Scott M. Haskins

About a month or 6 weeks ago, artist Kent Twitchell completed the restoration (repainting) of his 1971 mural that had been obliterated by graffiti. He called me to help him put a protective coating on it to give it a barrier against graffiti and abuse or accidents IN THE FUTURE.


So, in this very quick video, you’ll see us have a brief chat about the historical nature of the mural, you’ll see me varnishing and then… and explanation of what happened when IT GOT TAGGED A COUPLE OF NIGHTS AGO!


[rTjhemVZ25I]

It was “just” a good varnish job… but it saved the mural from getting damaged and this is a basic idea behind the efforts of the art conservation field.

 

So, how did you like this news, this video, this work by Kent and myself?

CLICK on the THUMBS UP and leave a comment!

Questions about your mural? Call Scott Haskins at 213 620 9125

Posted in Murals | Tagged , , , , | 17 Comments

Art Conservation of Exquisite Mural on Los Angeles Freeway Completed

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Scott M. Haskins

We have just finished the painting restoration of the realistic mural entitled Jim Morphesis Monument, painting by Kent Twitchell in 1984. It is part of a group of 11 murals that were painted along the downtown LA freeways to celebrate the 1984 Olympics and deeded to the City of LA as public art to build pride and community spirit. Here’s the short video of the very interesting steps to restore it:

[yfA_EoYlL0Q]

http://www.indiegogo.com/jimmorphesismonument Click here to donate to help keep graffiti off the mural.

One of the gratifying aspects of this project was the successful cooperation between The Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles, the original artist, Caltrans, Public Works, the art conservation community and the professional conservation/restoration services of FACL, Inc. Here are the team members:

Virginia Panizzon (FACL), Kent Twitchell(Artist), Scott Haskins (FACL), Isabel Rojas-Williams (MCLA), Vincent Moreno (Caltrans), Diane Stevenett (FACL)

For more info about testing and graffiti removal go to www.savefreewaymurals.com

This video shows very interesting art restoration – painting conservation steps to recover and reclaim this landmark mural from the 1984 Olympics located in downtown Los Angeles.

This was the 1st of 11 Olympic murals to be reclaimed from graffiti and from Caltans’ gray paint. All murals are scheduled for overpaint removal, cleaning and restoration in collaboration with the artists. The goal is to return to Los Angeles this high quality public art gifted in 1984.

The funds required for the mural restoration were provided by private donations and The Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles. Generous cooperation from Caltrans was much appreciated.

Art conservation treatment questions? Call Scott Haskins 213 620 9125

Follow us also on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Freeway-Murals-Los-Angeles/306554516039121


Posted in Murals | 11 Comments

Kent Twitchell’s Jim Morphesis Monument Mural Fully Restored

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Scott M. Haskins

In 1984, Kent Twitchell, Los Angeles’ most famous and most visible mural artist, was part of an elite group of artists to paint for the City of Los Angeles a series of murals along the downtown freeways to celebrate the Olympics. His “7th Street Altarpiece” composition uniquely consisted of two murals, one on each side of the 101 freeway under the Grand Ave. overpass. It was genius.

Jim Morphesis Monument after restoration

Jim Morphesis Monument After Graffiti Removal and Art Conservation - Photo by Gil Ortiz

Over the years, these two murals, The Jim Morphesis Monument and Lita Albuquerque, have unmercifully been tagged by graffiti vandals, disrespecting the artwork and the community that celebrated. Several attempts have been made to restore them but a lack of commitment to their maintenance relegated them back to a visual expression of anarchy.

Recently, The Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles committed to maintain these murals and Fine Art Conservation Laboratories was chosen. So the mural restoration was undertaken and this last week, the Jim Morphesis Monument by Kent Twitchell was fully restored (see photo above).

For a short video on the testing of Kent’s original artwork to see IF it could be cleaned safely, go to www.savefreewaymurals.com. Reclaimed from graffiti vandals (and we’re going to keep the graffiti off!) it will be the first of many.

Stay tuned for short video of fine tuning of cleaning, touch up and varnish.  Interesting stuff, the saving of art masterpieces. Spread this good news around!

To contribute to the removal of graffiti and the maintaining of the murals, go to http://www.indiegogo.com/jimmorphesismonument

Conservation/restoration questions? Call Scott M. Haskins 213 620 9125

Also, see other interesting restoration videos at Facebook Channel “bestartdoc” http://www.youtube.com/user/bestartdoc?feature=mhee

Posted in Murals | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Is Removing Graffiti A Useless Waste Of Effort?

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Scott M. Haskins



Anti Graffiti Protection for Murals - The Right Type and Amount of Varnish

Anti Graffiti Protection for Murals - The Right Type and Amount of Varnish


I had this dialog about the Jim Morphesis Monument mural by Kent Twitchell. We have just completed the graffiti removal, conservation/preservation and restoration this last week. Good questions and straight answers:


Laura: I love that piece, and it breaks my heart when it gets tagged.


Mario: great piece when its not tagged, question is, when isn’t it?


Scott M. Haskins Answer to future tagging: We’ve been hired to maintain the mural and keep it clean. Making good progress on Jim Morphesis Monument. New photo posted http://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Freeway-Murals-Los-Angeles/306554516039121?sk=wall


Mario: as a long time resident of LA I would guess that in the last 15 years or so this and other murals have spent more tagged up than not, I remember when this wasn’t the case, sadly the tagging quickly turns some of these beautiful murals into huge eyesores that some of us are subjected to on a daily basis.. good luck with maintaining the mural, unless your planning to occupy the site, you’ll need it.. btw, how many more strategically placed murals could be painted with all of the money spent on restoring those that are poorly located? A close friend expressed his frustration that more is spent every time his mural is restored than he was paid to paint it… really?


Kent Twitchell Some people have given up (with the idea of having murals in our community and keeping them nice). Some others haven’t.


Scott M. Haskins: Mario, maintenance is the key. If a mural gets tagged Caltrans requires that the graffiti get removed (or painted out with their gray paint) within 10 days or even 48 hours if the tagging is obscene. We are planning to remove any tagging within 48 hours of the tag occurring… but that depends also on if we are notified right away. Small graffiti initials/name can be removed for a couple of hundred dollars. A tag that is more thickly applied and bigger, maybe a few hundred. An enormous repainting type of graffiti can still be /removed for, lets say, maybe about $1,500- $2,000… hardly the cost or payment for painting a mural. The key to a maintenance program working is to be organized, follow through, the coordination of, Caltrans, Public Works and about 4 other entities… and of course, there has to be funding… which there is.


Finally, consider other nice things you appreciate. They often require maintenance/upkeep over a continued basis. To see all the videos on the treatments and more go to www.savefreewaymurals.com




Posted in Murals | Tagged , , | 4 Comments