Poll: City Fines Valley Village Homeowner for Graffiti Art on Fence
Valley Village resident Barbara Black had an idea on how to repaint her fence, give back to her community, and give some school students a project to work on. Black, working with the principal at North Hollywood High School, found 10 high school students interested in creating a “graffiti art” mural on her 90 foot fence. When the work was nearly complete, she received a notice from the city that her mural was violating a city ordinance on advertising, ordered to pay a $336 fine and ordered to white wash the fence.
While Black has the support of some local bloggers, the comments on both NoHo Arts District and Mayor Sam have been more negative than positive towards the homeowner. The point of contention between the two camps seems to be whether or not Graffiti Art, even if it’s commissioned by the owner of private property, is actually art or whether it’s some form of blight.
NoHo Arts District is encouraging readers to write to Councilman Krekorian to get the fine, which goes to over $1,100 if the mural isn’t removed later this month. We’ll make things simpler. Vote below and we’ll send Krekorian’s office the results. If you want to contact him directly, you can email him at councilmember.krekorian@lacity.org,
Streetsblog has migrated to a new comment system. New commenters can register directly in the comments section of any article. Returning commenters: your previous comments and display name have been preserved, but you'll need to reclaim your account by clicking "Forgot your password?" on the sign-in form, entering your email, and following the verification link to set a new password — this is required because passwords could not be carried over during the migration. For questions, contact tips@streetsblog.org.
