AIDS Mural Vandilized and then Cleaned

August 9, 2010

From : Richard Zaldivar, The Wall Las Memorias Project Executive Director
A few of us cleaned the mural at the AIDS Monument on Saturday...NO PERMANENT DAMAGE...wiping away the paint and cleaning the mural of the ignorance and denial is what we do when we outreach....It is more that symbolism it is because the AIDS monument is a focal point to address these issues....It is also a mirror for people to look into and see what they don’t like about themselves...That is why we built the monument....the battles goes on...Richard


July 28, 2010
Developing: The Wall Las Memorias AIDS Monument Vandalized
Karen Ocamb HIV/AIDS, Los Angeles Add your comment Print This Post


The Wall Las Memorias – an inspirational art project dedicated as a Latino AIDS monument on World AIDS Day in 2004 – has been vandalized. Apparently a mother went to see the name of her son on the Wall in Highland Park and found a section of the mural splashed in yellow paint.
The Wall’s founder Richard Zaldivar told me:
“The vandalism was done to the section of the AIDS mural that depicts a child saying, ‘I once knew a child with AIDS.’ And so it is really sad and very troubling that someone would use this opportunity to damage a piece of art that was created for the purpose HIV prevention and education to our community.
We are currently working with the police to see whether or not it was a hate crime. It seemed to be very targeted. There are six painted murals and only this mural was vandalized. So it was very targeted and focused.
I also really appreciate so many people from the community expressing their concern and sadness at this vandalism.”
Zaldivar says that if people want to be supportive, they can help create a discussion with the larger community around safety and other issues in the park. He requests that comments and suggestions be sent to jperez@thewalllasmemorias.org.
Additionally, Eddie Martinez says:
“We plan to try to clean it today at 2pm. We are going to try to use soap and water. If that does not work, we will need to call the company that produced the fabricated murals to see what the next steps are. We don’t want to further damage the murals. We have a team of volunteers and staff going to the monument today. People are welcomed to be there for support but we have enough manpower.”


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