David Russell and Roberto del Hoyo are graffiti artists frustrated with the mural situation in Los Angeles. There's a city ordinance on the books that makes any mural on private property illegal. So fourteen months ago the duo, who met in grad school, started the Mobile Mural Lab. It's an old search and rescue truck they bought off Craigslist and they use it to bring murals to the people. They take it to schools and neighborhoods that invite them and everyone from famous graffiti artists to … [Read more...]

I came to Los Angeles this week knowing I was going to be covering the city on foot, bike, and public transit. And I wondered how LA's street design has evolved in recent years. So I met up with Ryan Snyder. (In fact, Snyder met me on his bike at the hotel downtown, and I began the interview on a bike ride to his office in Park La Brea.) A transportation planner and consultant, he oversaw the creation of the new Model Design Manual for Living Streets. Though funded by the LA County Department … [Read more...]

Anne Bray, co-founder of Freewaves, an organization committed to art in public places, describes the audience for its latest project Out the Window. Freewaves has commissioned experimental video art to show on screens inside over 2000 Metro buses throughout Los Angeles. One million Angelenos ride the bus everyday, two thirds are Latino, and the household income of riders is under $26,000. It's a tremendous untapped audience for art. And as reporters thinking about who arts journalists need to … [Read more...]