Boyle Heights Political Mural, via Creative Commons

"I'm ready to paint. I would love it if you would pass it,” requested one Los Angeles muralist, hoping that the city council would approve the ordinance, allowing him to showcase his work in his hometown. 

On Wednesday, in a 13-2 vote, the Los Angeles City Council approved Councilman Jose Huizar’s proposition to lift the citywide ban on murals, marking the first step towards restoring Los Angeles’s identity as a capital of street art by. 

Next week the council is expected to take the second vote necessary to confirm the change. 

According to the current proposal, artists will need to submit mural proposals and pay a $60 application fee, but the walls of Los Angeles will once again become open canvases. 

Murals on single-family homes will remain banned, but the council is hoping to come up with a system for neighborhoods to make their own decisions about whether or not to allow murals on houses.  

Influenced by the longstanding Latin-American tradition of creating expansive murals, in the 1970s artists throughout Los Angeles began turned to street art to convey social and political concerns, a trend that continued as Los Angeles geared up for the 1984 Olympics. 

"The city of Los Angeles was known as a place where we supported the arts, where we had free expression on our walls," according to Councilman Jose Huizar, who said he represents Eastside communities that have long embraced mural art.

Los Angelenos are hoping that the newly lifted ban will enable the city’s many talented artists to gain greater attention and opportunity to use their talents to beautify the city.

Arts District Mural, photo by Sara Newman

Under the new policy, guidelines will be instated to balance the opportunity for artistic expression with theresponsibility of maintaining public spaces. City officials hope to revive the city’s longstanding mural tradition, prevent the imposition of unwanted murals, and prevent advertisers from taking advantage of the new opportunity for expression. 

The 2002 mural ban was implemented after advertisers sued the city for violating their First Amendment rights. Advertisers complaining that muralists were able to create the large, flashy works of art, a privilege that was not allowed to businesses. To avoid further criticisms, the city banned public murals altogether. 

Due to its pacifistic genesis, the ban was not always strictly enforced. Some new murals slipped under the radar during the past decade, but an estimated 300 other murals—like Chris Brown’s home mural —were forcibly removed. 

“We owe it to our next generation to reclaim our legacy as a mural capital of the world,” said Isabel Rojas-Williams, the executive director of the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles.

Contact Executive Producer Sara Newman here and follow her on Twitter here.