Whose City? Public Art, Power, and Representation in Urban Landscape Blog 2

                                                                                     Phase 1: The Side  South Los Angeles is a community I have personal ties to, having grown up and had family connections in the area, and it is also one known for its rich cultural heritage. Its public art displays add a vibrancy that is hard to ignore. I chose Watts because it is often associated with crime and historical violence, but its art tells a different story based on resilience, pride, identity, and unity. The contrast between Watts' beauty and negative media portrayals makes it an important site to understand how art can dismantle negative perceptions and represent marginalized communities. There are many different kinds of artistic expre...

 Kayla Bahadarian Professor Aziz Art 3170 April 2026 Venice Beach, California PHASE 1: THE SITE The place I chose for my project is  Venice Beach . Venice Beach is a really popular area in Los Angeles that a lot of people visit, but it’s also known for its strong art culture. When you walk along the boardwalk, you see murals, graffiti, and street performers everywhere. It feels very different from a traditional museum because the art is out in the open and part of everyday life. What I like about Venice Beach is how expressive it is. There are so many different styles and messages, and you can tell that artists are using the space to share their ideas freely. It’s busy and sometimes chaotic, but that’s also what makes it feel real and creative at the same time. PHASE 2: FIELD WORK   (Image 1: Venice Art Walls / graffiti wall) One of the most important art spaces in Venice is the  Venice Art Walls . These walls are always changing because different artists are constan...

Phase 1: The site      I chose a mural of MLB star Shohei Ohtani, titled “LA Rising” located in Little Tokyo which represents the growth and diversity of Los Angeles. Since he plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers, it feels connected to the community in Los Angeles. Also, this mural is about these three ambassadors of Japan who came to Los Angeles and shared their culture with our city to bridge unity which is considered to bring people around the world together. As the author calls a “cultural bridge” between two nations.     I chose this site because it caught my attention every time I went to Little Tokyo. The colors and design make it stand out, and I think it looks powerful and inspiring. It is very interesting to me since I figured out the features of an interactive QR code that activates an augmented reality (AR) experience.    Phase 2: Field Work     I documented the MLB star Shohei Ohtani, who is the subject of a large 150-foot...

  Phase 1: The site  I chose to work on the Hollywood Hills sign because this art is known to be an experimental art piece rather than a regular traditional piece. Knowing this art piece makes me know how this came to be, how it affects people around Los Angeles, and how it started to affect movies too which gives an identity to people of those connected to Hollywood.  Another reason why I chose this was because when it came to be in 1923, it was made out of wood, sheet metal, and telephone poles. The sign was originally HOLLYWOODLAND and even had like thousands of light bulbs so it could glow at night in segments in which the whole idea was supposed to last around for a year or two but it quickly became Iconic. Over time the sign fell into disrepair in 1949 in which the LAND portion was removed and the remaining HOLLYWOOD sign was restored by the city which turned it into a symbol of film industry rather than a real estate ad and by 1978 it was full rebuilt out of steel ...

  Civic Engagement Project – ART 3170 Whose City? Public Art, Power, and Representation in Los Angeles Site: Arts District, Los Angeles PHASE 1: THE SITE I selected the Arts District in Downtown Los Angeles as the focus of this civic engagement project because it is one of the most concentrated and visually saturated public art environments in the city. The neighborhood is widely recognized for its murals, graffiti culture, and large-scale commissioned street art, yet it is also a rapidly gentrifying industrial district shaped by redevelopment, rising property values, and the expansion of creative industries. This makes it an especially important site for examining how public art operates not only as cultural expression, but also as a tool of urban branding, historical narration, and economic transformation. My familiarity with this area comes from multiple visits and sustained observation of how its visual landscape changes across blocks and ownership structures. Some walls reflec...