Hand in Hand : Art Joins Advertising to Show a Diversity of L.A. Wishes

Bebo Saab wishes he could walk. It says so on bus benches all over Los Angeles.

The message isn’t scrawled in graffiti. And it isn’t some feel-good advertisement, either. It is honest-to-gosh art--featuring Bebo’s top three wishes for 1994 and an image of the 16-year-old’s hand gesturing “thumbs-up.”

Such optimism might seem unexpected considering that Saab was born with cerebral palsy. “If you’re going to see a bus bench,” said Saab, a junior at Beverly Hills High who can walk only with a special walker, “it might as well say something worthwhile.”

Indeed, in an unusual meeting of the minds of Madison Avenue and the art world, 50 Los Angeles bus benches that would normally be covered with ads for funeral homes and real estate agents are instead displaying original art. The benches feature written wishes from culturally diverse Southern Californians. Each bench also displays photographic images of the hands of the individual.

While businesses--from billboard companies to TV stations--frequently donate surplus time or space for public service messages about homelessness or drug abuse, it is unusual for advertising space to be made available to artists.

“Advertisers want an image to sell a particular message, but artists want to create art for its own sake,” said Albert Boime, a professor of art history at UCLA. Boime, who is not affiliated with the project, said it is unusual for the goals to coincide. “What’s nice is, they’re taking this message out into the street--and not into the elite gallery scene.”

Behind the project are a socially motivated Los Angeles artist and a bus bench ad firm. The artist, Sheila Lynch, approached the company, Coast United Advertising, with her idea. Coast is supplying the bench space for free, and to fund the artwork, Lynch--who was involved in a similar project three years ago--got a $10,000 grant from the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department.

She found most of the people featured in the ads by accident. She discovered Larry Rogers, a homeless African American, washing cars in a parking lot near her home. Rogers’ three wishes: more homes, more jobs and less violence. His hands are shown clasped in prayer.

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The ads are making minor celebrities out of the five people whose hands appear in them. But while many Los Angeles residents have seen the hands, few know the faces behind them.

“The point isn’t to make them into celebrities; it’s to make their wishes known,” said Lynch. “And it’s also a way of displacing the values that corporations are always projecting onto us through advertising.”

Coast United operates under the more familiar name Bench Ad and sells space on 12,000 bus benches in Los Angeles. The three months’ space it is giving the artists on the 50 benches is worth about $12,000, estimates Arlan Renfro, president of the Canoga Park-based company.

But the bench artwork is more than just art. It displays messages--and images--from people from all parts of the city.

Saab, who lives with his parents and two sisters in Beverly Hills, had personal reasons for choosing to point his thumb up in the air. “Things will get better,” he said.

His other wishes are to have healthy children and to be a successful lawyer. “I watch a lot of Court TV,” he explained.

Yolanda Seabourne, a woman with strong feminist views, is also featured in the bench art. Among her wishes: government by women.

“The other way around hasn’t worked very well,” said Seabourne, an optometric assistant. The photos of her hands show them flashing the victory sign and joined together to form a W.

“Maybe it will start a few people thinking,” Seabourne said.

Paul Serchia said he can’t stop thinking about his benches.

The North Hollywood resident and 35-year-old publication manager at AIDS Project/LA is gay. His former lover died of AIDS nearly two years ago.

Among Serchia’s wishes: an end to ignorance and an end to AIDS. His benches also include wishes for his deceased lover, Bill, to be at peace. On the bench art, Serchia’s hands form an open triangle, a widely recognized symbol among gays that means “Stop AIDS.”

“The first time I saw one of the benches, I felt as if my grief was out there for the whole world to see,” said Serchia. “But now when I see the benches, I feel empowered.”

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The Los Angeles office of Grey Advertising, which has handled the $25-million account for the Anaheim-based Carl’s Jr. fast-food chain on an interim basis, has won the account previously handled by San Francisco-based Goodby, Berlin & Silverstein. . . . Torrance-based Envision Group has been named advertising and promotion agency for the California Museum of Science & Industry’s IMAX Theater. . . . The Orange County Register of Santa Ana is on the brink of naming a new ad agency to handle its estimated $2-million account. . . . Kathleen Sullivan, former co-anchor of “CBS This Morning,” has been tapped as the latest TV spokesperson for Weight Watchers International. . . . Jay Chiat, chairman of Venice-based Chiat/Day, has been named to the New York-based One Club’s Advertising Hall of Fame. . . . Ingelwood-based Hollywood Park race track has created the post of Asian marketing coordinator. . . . Auto research company J.D. Power & Associates of Agoura Hills will host its fifth annual Automotive Advertising Strategy Conference on Feb. 7-9 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Marina del Rey.