2020 Brought Los Angeles Street Artists Out to Spread Love Not Hate
A somber yet beautiful walk made me proud to be a Californian
After three months of not doing much, June 2020 ruled around and I was itching for new things to do outside. Plus, we all needed our vitamin D!
I love to hike. My family? Not so much but they agreed to another one of mom’s hikes because they were even bored of their phones and TikTok. Plus school at this point was pretty much a joke because no one, including students, seemed to know what to do. Understandable.
I found a gorgeous hike in Pacific Palisades which is next door to Santa Monica. It’s all LA, just by the beach LA, which is the best part of LA.
It was a warm day and after the 5-mile hike, we were all starving. Although at this time, nothing was open in LA. After Googling, we settled on a delicious, healthy Mexican eatery that was doing takeout orders.
I wasn’t expecting what I was about to see, although I am not sure why not. George Floyd was just killed and before that, Breonna Taylor. Everyone was in an uproar and I can completely understand why. I can empathize with the entire community and the families of the victims. Those deaths should not have happened.
No matter what political affiliation you agree with, if you think otherwise about the acceptability of these deaths, no need to read any further.
I’ve lived in California my whole life. I appreciate the diversity here and what it has taught me. I’ve not been sheltered and yet surrounded by all types of people. When I was in high school, I was one of the minority. I’ve had boyfriends of many different races in the past.
I have friends that are gay. I have a daughter that is gay and I have had friends of all races in the past. It saddened me to my core what was going on in America in 2020. All of it. I started to make myself crazy reading about it and getting so worked up.
No one deserves to be treated the way some people are treated in our nation.
Anyway, back to the lunch. We parked to go get our takeout order and we were in awe of all the street art that surrounded the area. There were some still being worked on.
My girls who wanted to protest but didn’t because I was scared for their safety were thrilled to see this artwork up all along the street. They always pointed out this sign when they saw it and were happy to know there were supportive people around.
I’ve always loved street art and these were completely stunning. I think even more so because of the meaning behind them. When this month's challenge at Globetrotters was decided, I instantly thought of the murals that I saw in LA.
I am not sure about the race of all the artists but we did see one Black man painting. He was painting something positive after everything that happened. He was trying to spread love.
We told him how beautiful his painting was and he thanked us.
I wasn’t aware of this until I did a little research about this street art but there was an entire campaign to paint the streets.
I was happy to read that “Let’s Paint The Town” consisted of artists of all races. Some became divided yet others banded together.
That is what we need. Togetherness. It started drifting again when I thought the world was headed in the right direction and sadly awful instances still happened after George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
But, there is good in the world and I am glad that some of these pieces of art are still open for viewing on the streets of Los Angeles.
Yes, I am aware that I am a white woman. But, I am a white woman that doesn’t understand the need for hate. I appreciate all of the street artists that came out during the pandemic to spread love in the streets of Los Angeles.
I’ve always loved street art but these pieces touched me deeper than any other street art I’ve seen.
Check out these stories on Globetrotters that feature street art.
Tim Ward, Mature Flâneur writes about beautiful street art in Paris.
Jillian Amatt - Artistic Voyages creates her own street art around the world but she also witnesses so many different types and showcases it all in her recent story.
Check out my Substack: The Maize
