Coming soon to Hollywood Boulevard: ‘All Black Lives Matter’ art will be permanent.

As a rarity, a stretch of the famed thoroughfare stayed serene — without performers, without traffic.
That’s been the case since Monday, when officials from the Los Angeles Bureau of Street Services closed the road from Highland Avenue to Orange Drive this week so that workers can install a street mural in tribute to the June 14 All Black Lives Matter march. What first surfaced as temporary art will stay permanent, prompting overwhelming support from a stream of local, national and international visitors roaming a pandemic-struck Tinseltown.
“I think it’s a good, all-the-time reminder of how things should be, of how lives should be valued,” said Amir Dehghani, a psychology student at UC Irvine. “So many spread messages of peace, but they don’t follow them. Here’s something you can look at and then remember what to do.”
On June 13, volunteers turned out by the hundreds to paint the words “All Black Lives Matter” on the boulevard in bright lettering, reflecting the colors of the transgender, nonbinary and pride flags. When crews arrived after the march — which drew as many as 40,000 participants — to power-wash away the mural, some demonstrators and observers protested. Members of the public pushed for a more lasting tribute. Ideas unfolded.
The permanent mural is the result of a partnership among StreetsLA, City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, the L.A. Department of Transportation, the Department of Cultural Affairs, Black LGBTQ+ Activists for Change, the Los Angeles Transgender Advisory Council and others.