The Teena Marie mural is moving forward at 1902 Pacific! The project, spearheaded by Venice videographer Tony Vera, is getting some nice press via The Argonaut! Keep up to date by reading Tony’s always entertaining Twitter feed!
From Gary Walker at The Argonaut:
A mural project to honor the late singer Teena Marie took a step further toward fruition last month due to a provision in city enforcement policy where no sanctions will be issued for fine art paintings during the reworking of the law distinguishing art and commercial speech.
Venice videographer Tony Vera, who is championing the project, told The Argonaut that he is looking forward to having the planning process for the mural expedited as soon as possible. “I’m very happy that this is moving forward,” Vera said.
Marie, who was born Mary Christine Brockert, was raised in the Oakwood neighborhood of Venice and graduated from Venice High School. Within a few years she became an R&B singer and had several hit singles in the 1980s, including “I Need Your Lovin’” and “Lover Girl.”
She passed away Dec. 26, 2010 of natural causes at 54.
Marie’s high school classmate, Alan Sarlo, owns the building at 1902 Pacific Ave. in Venice where the Marie mural will be painted and confirmed that he has given Vera the green light to pursue the project.
The City Council’s Planning and Land Use Committee requested in 2008 that the Department of Building and Safety refrain from issuing citations to comply with mural ordinances until the city creates a permiting process for murals on private property.
Vera is contributing $10,000 to the mural project, which he has been planning for several years but picked up speed last year. Initially, he wanted the famed muralist Rip Kronk to paint Marie’s image, but recently Kronk decided to go in another direction following a dispute over how the mural should look.
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