Wrigley Village Mini-Murals

5 designs which represent Wrigley village - the Tudor, Art Deco, and Spanish Colonial architectural styles, the sun and gardens, and riding a bike along the LA River toward Long Beach Harbor - were painted on 3 utility boxes as 12 mini-murals. The community requested the murals after Ioana completed the designs in the form of street banners along the same street.

5 designs which represent Wrigley village - the Tudor, Art Deco, and Spanish Colonial architectural styles, the sun and gardens, and riding a bike along the LA River toward Long Beach Harbor - were painted on 3 utility boxes as 12 mini-murals. The community requested the murals after Ioana completed the designs in the form of street banners along the same street.

Model studies were undertaken to determine how to adapt the existing images to the boxes to achieve the best 3D composition and show variation.

The challenging aspect of implementing this project included the existing box conditions (thick layers of old, peeling paint which Ioana angle-ground off, leveling the surface with Bondo); the busy sites (high-traffic corner intersections with many pedestrians and toxic exhaust); the heat of an LA summer (which dried the paint quickly); long distances to water/power outlets (which meant brokering deals with neighbors); and the obsessive exactitude of the designs (digital, originally for printing).

The colorful confessions and conversations initiated by passersby or people shouting from their car (on doing time, political conspiracies, art school for their children, getting paid as an artist, and STDs caught) means painting murals in public space serves a necessary street psychologist function.