A number of our local billboards will look a bit different for the next few months. Instead of advertising products and services, they’ll be transformed into huge public art displays, courtesy of an organization called The Billboard Creative. “I want to stop traffic with art” says artist Mona Kuhn, curator of the project.
The Billboard Creative started last year with a single billboard, and eventually added 14 more locations across Los Angeles during 2014. This year, TBC received many international submissions, and selected 33 artists to be displayed at major intersections throughout the city. The group includes both emerging and established artists, including Ed Ruscha, Jack Pierson, Andrew Bush, Shane Guffogg, Kim McCarty, and Panos Tsagaris, and more.
The first billboards will be unveiled today, December 1st, and the remaining billboards will go up within days at locations including Sunset & Vine, Beverly & Laurel, and Hollywood & Western. The installations will remain on view for one month only. An interactive map of the locations is available at http://www.thebillboardcreative.com. You can also download a phone app that helps locate the various billboards when you’re out and about.
Locations within our Larchmont Buzz coverage area include:
5216 Melrose Ave.
5574 Melrose Ave.
5644 Melrose Ave.
7111 Beverly Blvd.
7165 Beverly Blvd.
7725 Beverly Blvd.
8051 Beverly Blvd.
5860 W. Third St.
482 S. Fairfax Ave.
6210 Wilshire Blvd.
TBC is an all volunteer organization “staffed by people passionate about art and the people who make it, with the aim of broadening access – artists’ access to audiences, and audiences’ access to art that might otherwise go unseen.”
During this very commercial season, it’s nice to know we’ll have a little visual respite during our daily commutes.