September 5, 2013
Local News & Culture Marina del Rey
Westchester
Free S a n ta M o n i c a
P l aya d e l R e y
P l aya V i s t a
M a r V i s ta
Del Rey
VenicE
Art advocates hope Los Angeles will once again become ‘mural capital of the world’
By Gary Walker After 11 years of being exiled from the city that once embraced them with passion, murals will no longer take a back seat to commercial signage and can legally become part of Los Angeles’ visual landscape. The Los Angeles City Council, after postponing a vote on a mural ordinance for over a week, finally voted in favor of ending a moratorium on new murals Aug. 28. The 13-2 vote will allow artists who pay $60 to the city the ability to create their own artistic vision without having their murals equated as commercial speech. The passage of the ordinance now allows the city to begin its journey back to becoming the “mural capital of the world.” Communities such as Venice on the Westside and Boyle Heights and Silver Lake in eastern Los Angeles have been waiting eagerly for a new municipal law that will permit
digital as well as printed art works in their neighborhoods, as these communities share a long history and acceptance of murals. East Los Angeles is home to countless mural projects, many led by Venice muralist Judith Baca, while Venice is famous for its art from noted muralists such as Rip Cronk and Emily Winters, among others. Venice Neighborhood Council Arts Committee CoChair Cynthia Rogers said having an ordinance that now specifically regulates murals as art without ambiguity is one of the most important components of the new citywide law. “I’d say the numberone benefit is clarity. Our communities are screaming for clarity,” Rogers said. “With the passing of this ordinance we will be one step closer to putting in a workable framework by which current and future artists will be able to commission their works and with that a greater likelihood (Continued on page 9)
•This Week•
Photo by Jorge M. Vargas, Jr.
L.A. mural ordinance passes, includes ‘opt out’ provision for neighborhoods
A mural of skater Jay Adams, one of the original Z-Boys, adorns a wall of Pork Belly’s sandwich shop on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice. It is one of the community’s latest murals.
Assembly bill would give Coastal Commission power to issue fines
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Built during the Depression on the site of the former Evening Outlook newspaper’s building, the Elmiro Theatre was not only the first concrete structure in Santa Monica, it was the only theater in the United States constructed between 1931 and 1934.
By Gary Walker One of the most influential commissions in the state could soon join its fellow agencies in having stronger regulatory authority over its domain. The California Coastal Commission, if Assembly Bill (AB) 976 is passed, would join other state commissions empowered to take administrative action against violators through penalties and fines. The commission’s mission is to “protect, conserve, restore, and enhance environmental and human-based resources of the California coast and ocean for environmentally sustainable and prudent use by current and future generations.”
The bill, sponsored by Assemblywoman Toni Atkins (D- San Diego), has the support of environmental and conservation organizations throughout the state. It is opposed by business and agriculture groups, which argue that the ability to levy fines will create a “bounty hunter” situation between the commission and violators. The California Chamber of Commerce says AB 976 “inappropriately expands the Coastal Commission’s enforcement by allowing the commission to impose administrative civil penalties and incentivizes the imposition of fines and penalties at the expense of due process that occurs in the judicial system.”
(Continued on page 10)