CONSERVANCY FORMED TO PROTECT PUBLIC MURALS

Spurred by the recent defacement of two city murals, three local visual-arts groups have formed a Los Angeles Mural Conservancy to protect and maintain the city’s public murals.

Plans for the conservancy were announced at the Los Angeles Press Club on Thursday by representatives from the three founding groups, Los Angeles Visual Arts Assn., the Visual Artists Guild, and the Los Angeles chapter of Artists Equity Assn., a national organization.

In November, artist Kent Twitchell’s “Old Woman of the Freeway” mural was painted over after a 12-year tenure above the Hollywood Freeway. Also that month, Tom Van Sant filed a $5.5-million lawsuit against the owners of the downtown AT&T; Center, claiming that his 120-foot-long mural there was destroyed during remodeling of the building.

The Mural Conservancy will work to prevent the deterioration and destruction of city murals, said Bill Lasarow, president of the Visual Artists Guild. It will keep watch over the city’s murals, he said, help artists pay for labor, equipment, supplies, and legal expenses needed to preserve and protect their murals, and act as an information resource center.

“The public legacy of mural art in Los Angeles has certain vulnerabilities built into it,” Lasarow said. “If we want to preserve and sustain that legacy over time, it will require special effort and attention.”

The first step the Mural Conservancy will take, Lasarow said, will be to help restore Twitchell’s mural. The conservancy has not yet established a formal structure for running the organization, or collected any funds, he said, but is now soliciting tax-deductible donations. Information: (213) 482-4724.