Original mural alongside The Hedgehog at Mohawk Street & Sunset Boulevard

What the wall looks like now

Colorful murals are not only a common sight in Echo Park, it’s something the neighborhood takes a lot of pride in (depending on the artwork). While we’re not sure the erasure of a mural along Mohawk Street at Sunset Boulevard will capture the protests from the community like the Quinceañera mural did earlier this year, the whitewashing of the wall is a dramatic difference.

Erin West, who own The Hedgehog cafe on which the mural was located, planned on putting up a new, Echo Park themed mural when the wall was painted over, but business got a little busy. Prior to the election, Erin added the Yes on Prop 37 paintings, but some recent graffiti markings by, the tagging claims, the artist themselves protests the “hipster politics” on the wall. “I actually tried to track the crew down to give them a heads up,” Erin wrote in an email, referring to painting over the original mural, “but they didn’t exactly leave a forwarding address when I took over the lease.”

Erin is currently working on hiring a sandblaster to remove all paint from the brick wall. In the meantime, they are asking for any artists who may be interested in the new project to touch base via email at TheHedgehogLA@gmail.com

We have to ask all our readers: Did you like the original mural? Would you like to see a new mural, or is a brick wall cool with you?