Walls can be considered as boring parts of buildings, until there is a purpose for them. Popular alternative band Foster the People decided to conduct a project commissioning the construction of a huge mural on the wall of a building in downtown Los Angeles. The band wanted to create something independent from their music, something that could be seen. The artwork of the building was created by the same artist that designed the album cover of their debut album “Torches” and sought to create the mural based on the band’s new album “Supermodel.” Leading man Mark Foster recently stated in a Rolling Stones article “I feel like Los Angeles has given us a lot, and we wanted to give something back. There’s a lot of people who live down here, who walk past or ride the bus to work past that wall every day. They have no idea who we are, but they’re going to be able to see a piece of art that’s making their neighborhood more beautiful, even if they never listen to the band.”
There had been plans made by the city of Los Angeles to tear down the mural, but they proved to be unsuccessful. A fan of the band started a petition soon after the news got out, and received over 12,000 signatures from all over the world. The mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti decided the petition was a big enough sign to save the mural, so it still stands there today. July 14th was the date the mural was supposed to be covered, but because the fans saved the mural, the band wanted to find a way to thank them. On July 14th several members of the band’s management team were at the site of the mural, handing out free posters as well as two helping band members and one member of the main band, Cubbie Fink. On the 14th there were around 100 fans at the mural that waited in line to take pictures with the band members and get signatures.
As Mark Foster said, even if you’re not particularly a fan of the band, it’s still a beautiful piece of art for anyone to admire. It’s also an opportunity for adventure for you and your friends, to travel to downtown LA and look at it, take those artsy pictures for Instagram, and maybe even stop by Urth Café on your way home. There was also an amazing music video made for their debut single from the album called “Coming of Age” that displays a time lapse of the mural being created.