What happened to the Mural at 550 N Fair Oaks?
By Terry Miller
Published: Friday, December 11th, 2009
Art CoverUp – Pasadena Public Art Is Done!
Now you see it….
It’s kind of sad that a giant fork called by some as ‘guerrilla art’ can be erected ( and remains so ) without city permits, and yet a legitimate artwork is destroyed in Northwest Pasadena.
Something smells funny here:
The irony here is that the city paid for the project that was subsequently destroyed and yet no public funds destroyed (yet) the giant fork.
Artist Christian Alderete, assisted by numerous young artists, had recently completed a 60-foot city funded mural on a Northwest Pasadena storefront as part of a “Neighborhood Enhancement Mural Program”.
The mural was painted over just days after it was unveiled. A misunderstanding, perhaps? Maybe, but none the less seems a little odd that after all the publicity the gargantuan utensil received, Christian Alderete’s work is literally erased from view.
How could this happen: Here’s how the city explains in a press release sent today:
The Code Enforcement Section of the Pasadena Planning and Development Department sent a warning notice on Nov. 2 to Izydor Wilchfort, the property owner at 550 N. Fair Oaks Ave., stating that a recently repaired portion of a wall must be repainted (it was a different color than the rest of the wall).
There were instructions regarding four code violations in the written warning:
“Remove all unpermitted signs and banners”
“Reduce window signage to allowable limit”
“Paint repaired wall area”
“Remove junk, trash and debris from sidewalk”
The written warning did not call for the entire wall – or any part of the mural – to be painted over.
The property owner contacted the code compliance officer to clarify specifically what was called for. The code compliance officer explained that the area to be painted was only the recently repaired portion of the wall. At no time did the officer tell the property owner to paint over the entire wall or any part of the mural.
Removal of public artwork is subject to state (California Works of Art Preservation Act) and federal (Visual Artist Rights Act) law and can only be removed under certain conditions. The property owner neither notified the city of Pasadena or the artist about the intention to paint over the artwork nor asked the city or the artist for permission.
City officials will meet soon with the property owner and the artist to begin the process of deciding how to move forward on this issue.
Now the city is saying it will fund a new mural, but wants to know who is responsible for the cover-up before they cough up the greenbacks! So do we! Send your cover-up tips to editor@beaconmedianews.com…you can remain as anonymous as the internet lets you be.
No related posts.