Mural’s Message on Gang Life Stirs Mixed Signals

Even in storage, the city-financed mural “The Three Laws” is stirring a clash of emotions for its depiction of a young gang member before he was shot to death on Blythe Street in 1995.

Does it glorify gang life, as the police fear, or, as some defenders in the arts community believe, is it a warning of the perils of gangs?

The mural was taken down from the front of a Blythe Street apartment building six months ago as workers from the nonprofit housing group Hermandad Mexicana Nacional began renovation.

Now, with the work complete, Hermandad officials are considering whether to reinstall the wood-backed mural, a proposal drawing strong opposition from police and prosecutors.

Critics say the mural depicting Blythe Street gang member Rodolfo “Lumpy” Barcello should not be installed again on Blythe Street because it can be read as a tribute to the street gang member and may send a message the gang is still in control of the street.

“That represents everything we’re trying to say no to--no to gangs,” said LAPD Officer Vivian Flores, the senior lead officer for the Blythe Street area.

The 15-foot-tall mural, kept in storage at Hermandad’s office on Van Nuys Boulevard, is painted on three panels.

One depicts the law of the people with pictures of Mexican President Benito Juarez, and Benjamin Franklin. Another portrays divine law, containing a painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The third panel depicts the law of the street, with a painting of Barcello.

The 19-year-old man is shown standing with a girl against a blue, ethereal background with the words, “Tho I walk through the Valley of darkness, I fear no evil for you are by my side.”

The mural was one of 10 funded with a $200,000 grant from the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Commission in 1995. It was painted under the direction of the Social and Public Art Resource Center. The commission’s standard practice is not to judge content, said Sandra Rivkin, a spokeswoman for the panel.

“The content would not come into it at all,” she said.

Dozens of young people helped artists Roberto Ruvalcaba and Ernesto de la Loza paint the mural, said Judith Baca, a UCLA professor of world arts and culture who heads the center.

Baca said the mural was taken down in violation of state law that requires notification of the artists, and should be reinstalled on the apartment building.

“It should absolutely go back up. It should be in the place it was designed to be in,” Baca said. “It should be on a public street, on Blythe.”

She said the mural is “a call to nonviolence,” and was put together with input from the community at public hearings.

According to a memo from the city attorney’s office, the mural is a “profane portrait” and “tribute” to a gang member.

“Many community stakeholders object to the glorification of gang culture depicted in that one mural and want to remove all evidence of the gang’s once lethal hold on the neighborhood,” according to the memo.

Deputy City Atty. Jule Bishop, who oversees enforcement of court orders against gang members on Blythe Street, said the city has worked hard to reduce the threat of gangs. “What we object to is pro-gang iconography, because what we are trying to do is get the gang members and drug dealers off this street,” Bishop said.

Defenders said it’s a matter of public art and free speech.

“I don’t think the LAPD should be critiquing works of art,” said Burt Corona, president of Hermandad.

Corona said tenants of the renovated building will be allowed to decide whether the mural goes back on the building.

“It [mural] is in tune with the murals in all the barrios of Los Angeles,” he said.

Angelina Casillas, project manager for Hermandad, said a tentative vote of some tenants showed opposition.

“Most of the tenants don’t agree with the mural,” Casillas said. A second possible site for the mural is a youth center operated by Hermandad, also on Blythe Street, Casillas suggested.

Baca suggested the issue may have wider significance.

“I think Los Angeles has to ask itself a serious question,” Baca said. “Is this a period of facism? Do we allow the police to be the determinant of images we allow on the streets?”

Millions of dollars in resources have poured into Blythe Street from the LAPD and the city. Also, crime in the area has dropped. Residents recently requested the street be renamed to avoid the stigma of past street terrorism.

De la Loza, one of the artists, said police should not be involved in the debate on his art, which he did not know had been taken down but hopes will be put back up.

“They [police] should stay out,” said the veteran muralist, who also painted a mural for the LAPD Memorial in Westchester.

De la Loza said he created the Blythe Street mural as a realistic depiction of life on the street.

“There is random violence. It is not glorifying that,” he said.