
A Masked LA Artist Is Installing Benches at Neglected Bus Stops
He’s turning an oversight into a creative public project for good.
-
CategoryArts + Culture, Experiences, Visual Art
On LA’s Eastside, several bus stops that once lacked any place to sit are getting an upgrade thanks to an anonymous local artist. According to the Los Angeles Times, the man got the idea after a knee injury found himself waiting for the bus with no place to rest. Noticing a huge deficit of functioning benches in the area, he decided to take matters into his own hands. And he does it wearing a bright waq’ollo mask typical of the Peruvian Andes.
“Over the past 11 months, the artist has surreptitiously installed more than a dozen wood benches around the Eastside, and he has it down to a science: He props a ladder next to the bus sign, slips a handmade wooden bench over the pole and proceeds to screw, hammer and glue it into place. In about 15 minutes, the stop has a brand-new bus bench.
“‘This is allegedly the new biotech corridor,’ he says, gesturing at the neighborhood around us. We are less than half a mile from LAC+USC Medical Center. ‘But they don’t care about the health of the people already here. It’s like the city has refused to build benches for them.’”
Read more about this industrious Good Samaritan here.
California’s in the Driver’s Seat on Zero-Emission Vehicles
What other states could learn from the state’s aggressive electric agenda.
A SoCal Couple Takes a Mid-Century Modern Back to Its Original Splendor
Get a glimpse into the imagination of two creatives.
How to Make a Vermina Vermouth Cobbler
Our latest episode of Mixed Messages makes Santa Barbara’s Vermina Vermouth the star of this show.