Office of the Mayor
Media release

27 April 2012

Auckland Street Art Hits Los Angeles


Multi-disciplinary Auckland artist Askew One has been honoured under the Los Angles Sister Cities programme for his generosity and stewardship as a mentor in contemporary public art.

Elliot O’Donnell, aka Askew One, was presented with a proclamation by the City of Los Angeles over the weekend. Askew is one of the world’s preeminent public artists.

He also unveiled a new mural to mark the occasion, created in conjunction with the LA Freewalls Project.

“Public art adds colour and creativity to our city and I embrace the success of contemporary artists like Askew One who is not just a role-model for younger street artists, but an ambassador for our city on the international stage,” says Auckland Mayor Len Brown.

The proclamation by the City of Los Angeles has officially named O’Donnell as a Cultural Stewardship Ambassador to the historic Sister Cities program.

LA City Planner, Tanner Blackman, who spearheaded the efforts to reinstate a mural ordinance for LA, will present the proclamation to O’Donnell.

Blackman and LA Freewalls founder Daniel Lahoda have been the chief proponents of creating responsible legislation that recognises both the value and history of public art in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles has one the nation’s largest historic catalogs of mural art, with over a thousand murals citywide.

Kamilla Blanche, Los Angeles’ Senior Deputy for Arts and Culture Director for Sister Cities, is excited about the prospects for the relationship between Auckland and Los Angeles. "Askew One is an amazing artist and is helping to create a wonderful relationship between Auckland and Los Angeles.".

“The international recognition of our street artists only add to Auckland’s reputation as a young, contemporary, innovative and artistic city, and our connections through sister city relationships will only bring more colour to our streets,” says Len Brown.

Note:

About Daniel Lahoda and the LA Freewalls Project:
Daniel Lahoda, founder of the LA Freewalls Project and LALA Arts, started the project in 2009 with the goal of fostering creative spaces where street artists could create legal work that in turn provoked community involvement The forthcoming opening of LALA Gallery where Askew One is holding an exhibition is intended to serve as the locus of the Los Angeles street art movement by bringing world-class murals and art to the downtown Los Angeles environ, and thus contributing viscerally to the perception of the community from down-and-out to up-and-coming.

ENDS

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