LA Towers Graffiti: Art Or Vandalism?

#258: Los Angeles is spending nearly $4 million to clean up and fence off the Oceanwide Towers after the three abandoned buildings were covered with graffiti. Some people are glad to see the graffiti go, but others say they like what the murals represent, arguing that their removal is a bad use of tax dollars.

Meanwhile, LAist reporting shows the company who owns the Oceanwide towers has been linked to bribery and money laundering investigations. With all this drama on our mind, we wanted to talk with someone with deep knowledge of LA’s graffiti writing scene.

We meet up with Red Ortiz, a graffiti writer turned barber and film director. He’ll tell us how painting illegal murals changed his life, and why he thinks graffiti is so important to LA’s culture.

Music in this episode composed by Dexter Thomas