Fresh off a pretty slick redesign of the LA Public Library card, prolific street artist Shepard Fairey is now working on a 40-foot tall mural of Robert F. Kennedy in the heart of Koreatown. The mural will be the centerpiece of a huge public art and education project being held at RFK Community Schools. The group of six schools and an adjoining park occupy the site of the former Ambassador Hotel, where Kennedy was assassinated in 1968.
All told, 28 artists will participate in the Branded Arts RFK Mural Festival, which kicked off Monday. The schools' very white-walled campus will soon be adorned with works by prominent muralists from around the world, while students will be able to participate in workshops with many of the artists. Branded Arts, the Los Angeles-based organization that is sponsoring the event, has rounded up an impressive group of muralists that includes Kenny Scharf, D*Face, and Colette Miller. A public reception to close the event will be held Friday May 27 at 5 p.m.
As Los Angeles Magazine points out, Fairey's work will not be the first mural to pay tribute to Kennedy's legacy at the schools. In 2010, Judith Baca painted two murals honoring the Massachusetts senator in the old Ambassador ballroom—now being used by the schools as a media center.
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