LA Wants New Murals - Let the Art Begin!

Call for Wall Artists

The Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) is seeking artists and artist teams interested in creating a permanent and/or temporary art projects for large scale, outdoor walls in the City of LA. This Request for Qualifications (RFQ) is open to professional artists working with any medium, style or technique –i.e. murals, aerosol, mosaics, paints, stencils, stickers, wheatpasting, woodblocking, light and/or video projection. 

This RFQ is open to professional artists and artist teams living and working in the County of Los Angeles. Artists must demonstrate the vision, past experience and professional qualifications required to create public art for City walls –a process that includes public presentations, production oversight and execution of artwork in the public realm.

For details and the complete Request for Qualifications, see the attached PDF.

The deadline is Monday, November 4, 2013.


Well, the legal wrangling took years, but less than a week after LA finally adopted new rules to once again allow art murals in this city, the art is already ready to begin!

The City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs just released a public call for wall artists.  Let the art begin!

The red tape and bureaucracy involved might be more than most street artists are used to, but the reward seems worth it as the projects are fully funded and the murals done by selected artists will be protected forever.

Check out the general description above, then click the jump to check out the full requirements and contact information for artist participation.

Excited to see the new art in LA.  Stay up, Los Angeles!

More Talk About LA's Mural Ordinance

There is more talk today about the the City of LA adopting new mural regulations.

Unfortunately, there is no actual news yet, but the impending decision appears to be drawing closer.

Are LA's Murals Endangered Species? (Don't Believe the Hype!)

A lot of people in the art community keep talking about LA's proposed end to its self-imposed mural moratorium, and they talk about the lifting of the ban as if the move will save LA's art community.

Don't believe the hype.

As M&F has pointed out before, even though murals have been illegal, this city has still made a name as one of the top destinations in the world for street art and graffiti--in all shapes and forms.  The rules have never stopped the art in LA.  And the idea that bringing in the city as a mural referee is somehow going to save the art in Los Angeles, well, M&F does not predict that will be the case.

To be clear, it is great that the city is moving to embrace more art.  All art is awesome, and this is a step in the right direction.  But there is a difference between 'street art' and 'public art'.   The City Council's decision on murals will affect public art a lot, but it will probably not affect the current state of street art and graffiti very much.  After all, how many graffiti artists ask for the city's permission before a painting trip?  The good news is that it will give art lovers a leg to stand on when a property owner wants art, where before there was none.  And that is great news.

This mural riding in Venice is entitled 'Endangered Species', and this is an example of a public art legal mural painted with the permission from the city of LA.  Even though it was painted in 1990 and therefore grandfathered into the the mural regulations, it still brings up some still valid points about endangered species.  And this world is still struggling to come to terms with things like self worth, the destruction of the environment, and loss of native habitat and cultures.

The art is beautiful and we dig the message.  However, it is still safe.  This is a great example of 'public art' and the type of aesthetic M&F expects will flourish once LA's mural regulations are relaxed.  And the city will look better for it.  But for street art and graffiti, its business as usual.

In Orlando, The City Makes Its Own Sticker Combos

Each city always has peculiarities that make it unique.

One of the most interesting things about Orlando is how the city actively maintains the assorted street signs throughout the city.  Each time the sign gets serviced, a city worker will leave a sticker saying that it has been cleaned.   But over time the stickers build up, and after a few years all the signs become cluttered with the collection of city sticker combos.

Fascinating how the goal is to keep the signs free from graffiti and blight, but the method used creates the same effect.  Most casual observers would probably agree that these sticker combos from the city are more unsightly than the art they aim to get rid of.

Also notice the beautiful Spanish Moss hanging down from the trees in all the photos, another unique component of Orlando and select cities in the South.

Stickers are Everywhere!

Stickers are everywhere, even in the middle of nowhere.

A slap from 'Rock.All.City.' and 'EfromTheLost' gets up on a freeway exit in N. Valley LA.

M&F's New Ongoing Series - Livin' in LA - Vacation in LA!

M&F loves the City of Los Angeles so much that we don't want to go anywhere else--even for vacation.

If the internet is like the streets, no one gets up more than MELROSEandFAIRFAX.  With 10+ fresh posts each day every day, M&F is the most active out of any street art blog and publishes more content than any other street art blog in the world.  (shoot, don't mean to tug our horn but this little blog publishes more articles than half the fully staffed major news networks online!).

Being so busy makes it hard to take a vacation.  But really, who needs to leave the city for a vacation when people of Los Angeles live in a general vicinity that is home to some of the hottest tourist destinations in the world?  We've got the sun.  We've got the beach.  We've got the perfect temperature year round.  LA is pretty amazing, and it seems like it would be a squandered opportunity not to experience more of it.

M&F plans to accomplish two goals at the same time and explore the beautiful little communities of Los Angeles for day-long vacations, at the same time that gather spanking new content from the streets for the blog.  We are Livin' in LA, and we are Vacationing in LA!~

The features are not meant to be taken as an official vacation guide, rather the intention is to give a real view of what it is like experiencing a day in that particular city or area from an outsider's perspective.  The aim includes not only the main streets and the generic tourist spots, but also the side routes and alley ways where the real life and real action is happening.

Of course M&F will keep bringing its viewers the hottest new street art from the busiest spots around the heart of Hollywood and Los Angeles.  This isn't meant to change anything about the way that things are run around here, and M&F will keep churning out the most, best and BIGGEST street art.  This new series will just be a sporadic feature meant to delve even deeper into this beautiful city of Los Angeles.

Stay Up, Los Angeles!~

***

Below is a list of the cities and general communities that we were thinking of exploring.  If anyone has anything to recommend to check out at any of these spots, or any new places to 'Vacation in LA' please leave a comment--we love hearing about the local secrets!

M&F'n Places to Vacation in LA
-CHATSWORTH!--(Beginning with a Happy Ending!)
-Summerland (Part 1)   (Part 2)   (Sunset in Summerland)
-Carlsbad (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5)
-Huntington Beach (Part 1) & (Part 2)
-Malibu
-Long Beach (Graffiti in LBC)
-Santa Monica
-San Clemente
-Thousand Oaks
-Ventura
-Palm Springs
-Venice Beach (Part 1) (Part 2)
-Gambling Near Los Angeles (Part 1) & (Part 2)


Pretty California
-The Playboy Mansion
-California Coast 
-California Sunset's (Part 1) (Part 2*Great Shots!*)
-Kenneth Hahn Park
-Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park
-Living Like Fortune Magazine


Outside California-
Florida (Part 1)
Miami  (Part 1)

Marred - My Next Girl Will Be Nothing Like My Ex Girl

The wall that Jonny 'No' Style usurped keeps getting smashed, and Mar adds some pretty girls, and talk of his ex girl, to the splatter.

Click the jump for more art (and pics of Qtip!)