The Berlin Wall Comes to L.A.

The Berlin Wall is making its Los Angeles debut this month. The Wende Museum installed several segments of the original Berlin Wall on Wilshire Boulevard in L.A. They asked artists to paint over a few of the panels with American icons who helped tear down the wall that divided Germany. Artist Kent Twitchell planned to paint two portraits, one of JFK and the other of Ronald Reagan.

In the end, there was only room for Kennedy, causing a deep division in the L.A. artist community. Unlike the Cold War, the rift will be short-lived. Organizers are symbolically tearing down the wall on Sunday night.

On Monday’s episode of Word of Mouth, our German correspondent from the Bloomberg News arts desk will guide us through changes in German life and culture since the fall of the wall, through the prism of its art.

We’ll have room for your memories of a divided Europe, so add them here or leave a message at 603-223-2424.

The Associated Press: Berlin Wall drives wedge through LA art community

(Photo by Albert Domasin via Flickr/Creative Commons)