The Doors Project (note the date of 2002!)

Timothy Greenwood reporting on the Doors Project.

The night I started painting, a news reporter was on his way home from work. He apparently saw the strange sight of two people in the dark. They were painting on the closed doors of a business on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in downtown Los Angeles. He parked and began filming us artists over the next two months. He ultimately put together this wonderful video. It truly captures the feel of the Walk of Fame late at night. We were so fortunate to have been found by this extremely talented, capable and dedicated reporter, Mr. Timothy Greenwood.

Completed: October 2002

Description: Acrylic painting of celebrities on 40 corrugated metal security doors.

Located: Hollywood Walk of Fame, north and south sides of street, from Wilcox to Apache Blvd, Los Angeles, CA.

Funding: Commissioned by the Hollywood Beautification Team. Funded by the LA Community Redevelopment Agency.

Details: In the early 1990s, riots occurred. As a result, the city of Hollywood installed metal roll-up security doors. These doors were meant to protect the businesses. At night, when the doors came down, it was a grim looking neighborhood. The Hollywood Beautification Team came up with the idea to put celebrity images on the doors.

Susan Krieg, as Project Coordinator and Lead Artist, was contracted by the Hollywood Beautification Team in Hollywood, CA. Her responsibilities included creating a budget, managing the project, and painting after they received CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) funding. It had taken the Hollywood Beautification Team 1 year to complete 4 test doors. Susan brought in 5 artists to help. While painting could only take place between 9pm and 4am, the 40 doors were completed in two months. Susan painted 30% of the doors. She also altered the images in Photoshop. Additionally, she mixed the paints in various hues of grey. She prepared the equipment and materials for each night’s work. At night when businesses closed and the doors came down, approximately four blocks on Hollywood Blvd transformed. It became a nighttime art gallery.

Since then, the doors have not been maintained and have fallen victim to the blight of graffiti and tagging. The photo below gives you a sense of what these four blocks looked like early on a Sunday morning before the stores opened.

About 1/4 of the project on one side of the street ending at Wilcox.

Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O’Sullivan, Frank Sinatra and John Raitt Doors

The 7 doors that make up the Star Trek Corner

Interesting Fact: The actors had to have a star on the Walk of Fame to be included in the project, but the actor’s image was not necessarily next to his/her star.