The US Army veteran is competing to restore the 46-year-old mural he created at the Culver City DMV office after painting it.
David Botello’s Moonscapes Mural has been an office fixture for almost half a century. It depicts the image of a lunar astronaut, one heading forward and three others heading towards the table in the background.
For the artist, completing the project was a highlight of his career. However, in February, Botero was disappointed to learn that the crew had begun painting murals.
“It was a dream come true,” Botero said. “We’re on the west side of Los Angeles. We’re Chicano artists. Our subjects have always been cultural.”
The Ministry of Automobiles said it had decided to paint it on top of the artwork due to graffiti and deterioration of the wood. However, this process may violate the California Art Preservation Act.
The law requires that property owners notify the artist before deleting or destroying the artwork. It also needs to give to artists for 90 days to take action. Botero said he was not given communication that his mural would be knocked down.
“We tried to find information about the mural, its artist, and the person in charge of the mural, but without success, DMV is currently involved with the artist in restoring some or all of the murals.”
After learning about the department’s intentions, he calls the office and persuades them to stop repeating his job. Afterwards, we left the car park facade intact.
“He wanted to compensate and said, ‘We’re not going to paint that wall, don’t worry about it,'” Botero said.
At the age of 78, the veteran now has a new mission. It means working with restoration artists to ensure that his work is alive.
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