"Noni Olabisi (QEPD)"
Downtown LA, CA
In early 2022 I was commissioned by Silverstein Properties to create a unique mural alongside about a dozen other LA local artists on the 72nd floor of the US Bank Tower in Downtown Los Angeles. At about the same time, the iconic muralist Noni Olabisi suddenly and unexpectedly passed away. I couldn’t think of anything more fitting at that moment than to memorialize her at the highest point of LA to view down on the city that loved her so much. I asked the Silverstein team if they would allow me to paint her portrait and they immediately gave me the blessing to do so. The mural was painted with aerosol and acrylic on canvas that was adhered to the wall. I also requested to the team that if the mural were ever to be removed from this floor that they would instead donate it to a local museum or foundation so that it could be admired by the people of the LA. They obliged.
In March of 2023, Silverstein Properties held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new lobby of the US Bank Tower and at that same event we donated the mural to the Altamed Foundation’s art collection. The mural will live inside one of their local LA clinics so that patients and staff can enjoy the work daily.
Special thanks to my dear friend Isabel Rojas-Williams for first introducing me to Noni many years ago and also for the reference photos that I used to create this homage to her beloved friend.
Click below to watch video.
Click on images below for process pics.
Click images below for lobby ribbon cutting ceremony in 2023.
Photos by Joe Woolhead
