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Unused Los Angeles Billboards Are Transformed into Soothing Art for Commuters Stuck in Traffic

Being stuck in traffic is an unpleasant experience, and few cities know this better than Los Angeles. Famous for its infuriating stop-and-go gridlock, an innovative project hopes to ease the pain of being stuck in a car. The Billboard Creative is a nonprofit that takes unused and remnant billboards and turns them into public art, displaying both emerging and established artists' work along roadways for drivers to admire.

The Billboard Creative rotates artists and curators by creating month-long shows. Mona Kuhn is the curator behind this current 33-billboard iteration, and she chose the works–which feature photography, painting and sculpture–via a blind selection process. Without prior knowledge of an artist's identity or background, she selected pieces based on how they would integrate into the locations and types of traffic, be it slow or gridlocked. “If people are passing by quickly, the graphics have to be quick, strong messages,” Kuhn told The Huffington Post. “If the audience is stopped, I wanted the work to be more poetic and sublime–able to transport them away from the traffic jam and the boredom of their daily commute.”

The public art project is open to everyone. During the year, The Billboard Creative publishes an open call for submissions and charges a nominal fee to enter. The money made from this fee helps to fund billboard rental, which varies in number based on current market prices and how well-situated they are in the city.

The Billboard Creative: Website | Instagram | Facebook
via [The Huffington Post]

Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled 'Embroidered Life' that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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