The NoHo Arts District is Getting Artsier … and we’re getting our very own MURAL!
Yes, North Hollywood and all of the world, you’ve read correctly. After so much turmoil, silliness and downright idiocracy, we are finally able to create a mural to beautify our booming NoHo Arts District. For those of you who have followed the saga, please join us in thanking those who fought to allow Los Angeles to showcase the tremendous visual art talent we have in our communities.
The NoHo Mural Project was initially proposed to the NoHo Business Improvement District (NoHo BID) by Cella Gallery a number of years ago before the Los Angeles Mural Ordinance was in place. Inevitably, the project was put on hold until the moratorium on public art murals was lifted by the Los Angeles City Council this past August. Once it had become legal to produce murals in Los Angeles, the project was again presented to the NoHo BID who received it enthusiastically. However, within their current annual budget they could not help financially, but they were instrumental in connecting property owners to the project and in encouraging the community to support it. Without funding in place, the marketing team for the NoHo BID looked to enlist the help of other local organizations in sourcing sponsorship, which led to the partnership with the newly formed non-profit 11:11 A Creative Collective, whose mission is “To create a thriving and cohesive artist collective in order to make the San Fernando Valley a truly flourishing destination for innovative art.”
In the end this, the very first mural in the NoHo Mural Project, was solely financed by property owner and BID board member Scott McCarter from Redwood Partners, who owns The Lofts at NoHo Commons, and the supplies were sponsored by Continental Art Supplies, organized by 11:11 A Creative Collective.
The mural is approximately 200 sq. feet located on a fence outside of the 24hr Fitness studio’s main doors – the driveway between the Lofts at NoHo Residence and 24HR Fitness. It will be painted over a course of five days and will be completed by Friday, December 20. People are free to come by and watch as the mural is painted.
Meet the NoHo Mural Project artist! Wiley Wallace graduated with a BFA from ASU in 2004 and earned his MFA from UCSB. Recognized for his distinct style and technical skills, he has been awarded with numerous Grants and Fellowships including the Levitan Fellowship and the Santa Barbara Art Association Award. Wallace has gained recognition and respect from established galleries and museums, with invitations from the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and the LA Center for Digital Arts.
Wallace’s work is the fragmented narrative of memory. Cartoon figures, medical references, family snapshots, and loaded symbols of fortune and mortality populate his compositions. In his paintings, figures emerge from abstract fluid grounds, while other forms seemingly melt away into rainbow-hued puddles. With a kind of sinister ambiguity, Wallace’s brightly toned canvases present open-ended visions: like the shuddering images of a Crackerjack toy, Wallace’s transformations move between a before and after possibility.
Editor’s Note: Now if we could only have 10 more fabulous murals in NoHo.
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