CALTRANS PUTS THE KIBOSH ON A TWENTYNINE PALMS ART PROJECT

Earlier this school year, a civic beautification idea was put forward in Twentynine Palms. The idea is still alive, but it has hit a snag. Reporter Dan Stork explains…
A while back, a call went out to artistically-inclined students at Twentynine Palms High School about a public art project. Under the direction of local artist Art Mortimer, who worked with students several years ago to create the Battle of the Bell Mural, students would create paintings on traffic signal boxes in the city. However, the project hit a snag, when Caltrans nixed it for their boxes. At the March 9 meeting of the Morongo Basin Municipal Advisory Council, Public Art Advisory Committee representative Pat Flanagan asked Caltrans official Haissam Yahya about this. He explained that non-standard paint is not allowed, because Caltrans is responsible for maintenance of the boxes. We asked Art Mortimer about the status of the project. He wrote: “We are still working on a program with young people to paint other boxes that are owned by the City. There’s no real progress to report at this time.”