freeway art | Russel Ray Photos

The first time I saw a freeway being built incorporating “public art,” I thought that the expense for incorporating the public art might better be spent on feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, and healing the sick.

When I was in Los Angeles a couple of weeks ago, I saw some beautiful public art being incorporated. Looked like this:

Apparently there are two major reasons for incorporating public art into the freeway structure, both of them having to do with graffiti.

First, it is more difficult for criminals to scrawl their graffiti on the surface when it isn’t smooth.

Second, apparently vandalizing public art is a more serious crime than vandalizing public property, so criminals who scrawl graffiti on this public art get put away for a much longer time with a bigger ding in their bank account.

Hmmm. I think I like freeway art!

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