Venice Art Walls Opening

Yesterday marked the re-opening of the Venice Public Art Walls at Venice Beach. Celebrating arts is part of the character and spirit of Venice Beach, and this constantly changing public gallery for street art is an essential part of that.

The Art Walls, located near the bike path and skate dance plaza, is a showcase for spray an art. It's often called "graffiti art," which causes many people to confuse it with vandalism, or tagging, which the city is cracking down on.

The Art Walls are being curated by ICU Art. More information can be found at www.veniceartwalls.com. Under the guidelines of the new program, painting will be allowed only on weekends, during the day, under the supervision of ICU. Spray-paiting at other times, or in other places, will be strictly punished by law. We're determined to protect our neighbors from tagging.

Here is a link to a collection of photos from yesterday's opening "paint out" celebration. For some of the walls, I've included a series of photos so you can see how the artist went from simple sketch to elaborate work of art in a few short hours.

http://www.flickr.com/gp/15894780@N00/ExLq9s

I hope you make it down to Venice Beach to check out the walls.

-Mike Bonin
Chief of Staff