Painting over Ruscha.

No one seems to know why the iconic mural of artist Ed Ruscha on the side of a Department of Labor–owned building in Los Angeles was painted over on Friday. Muralist Kent Twitchell, who painted the piece from 1978 to 1987, says he wasn't notified about the destruction of the work. "To not be notified, to have it be a fait accompli…. It will take a while for the shock to wear off. It was sort of my 'Mona Lisa'; I worked on it for nine years."
And that is a apparently a violation of federal Visual Artists Rights Act, which legally protects public art; creators are ensured 90 days to respond to proposals to remove such art.

Via Art for a Change and Art.blogging.LA.