Graffiti Project in Huntington Beach, CA
- Artist/Author/Producer: various artists
- Confronting Bodies: City officials and community members
- Dates of action: 1993
- Location: Huntington Beach, California
- Description of the Art Work
- "The Walls" was a city-sponsored program in which graffiti artists could
apply for free, one-year permits to paint temporary murals on sections of
ten approximately 20 x 40 ft. cement retaining walls spanning
seven-tenths of a mile along Huntington Beach.
- Description of incident
- Months after the program was initiated, city council members began
receiving request from city officials and community members to shut down
the program because it was attracting vandals and asserting that the
murals being painted were not art. Huntington Beach Police Chief Ron
Lowenberg advocated eliminating the program because it hampered police
efforts to reduce illegal graffiti and conflicted with the department's
prohibition of possession of aerosol paint by minors. In a newspaper
opinion piece, State Attorney General Daniel Lungren called graffiti "not
art," but rather "an ugly reminder of the presence of crime gangs and
drugs in our neighborhoods and and indications that many youngsters
believe acts of violence and destruction are accomplishments."
- Results of incident
- The council voted to cancel the program, but kept the murals on display.
Source: Artistic Freedom Under Attack 1994