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Whenever Paul Botello’s mural “The Greatest Love” gets tagged by graffiti artists, he gets a call from Ramirez Pharmacy asking him to repair it. The mural is one of many that the legendary muralist and his older brother, David Botello, have painted throughout Boyle Heights, cementing their legacy.
Located on the side of the drugstore on Cesar Chavez Avenue and Soto Street, “The Greatest Love” gets vandalized regularly and is costly to repair. Arts officials and muralists say graffiti vandalism is a rampant problem throughout Los Angeles.
“We’ve lost many murals to vandalism,” said Yami Duarte, arts manager, Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. “There’s been a proliferation since the pandemic.”
The Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs works to preserve, conserve and restore historically significant murals throughout the city. As vandalism increases, Duarte works with artists to protect murals against vandalism with anti-graffiti coating, which makes it easier to restore.
The ongoing vandalism, despite help from agencies like the Department of Cultural Affairs, continues to affect artists and their murals.
For Paul, 64, the money and resources for restoring his murals come from his own finances. He protects his murals using four coats of a special clear coat, which can be expensive. The lack of financial support for mural restoration is challenging.
Paul’s older brother, David Botello, 79, started as an advertising artist who did everything from painting curbs, doors, kitchens, and other shops, to painting dinosaurs. A 1970 trip to Mexico City to learn how to paint murals from Jose Reyes Mesa, a Mexican painter, inspired him and introduced him to Mexican art.
“We saw murals everywhere,” David said. “We saw monuments, sculptures, and that just blew our minds.”
After studying in Mexico, David went on to teach Paul and eventually hired him while working on the mural “Moonscapesin Culver City” with his partner Wayne Healy. Paul also assisted on the mural just across the street from “The Greatest Love,” painted on the exterior wall of Pacific Kids and Adults Dental, named“El Corrido de Boyle Heights.”
The mural was created by David Botello, Wayne Healy and George Yepes, collectively known as the East Los Streetscapers. Together, they worked on some of the early murals associated with the Chicano Mural Movement, a kind of artistic renaissance in the 1960s and ’70s where Mexican-American artists transformed public spaces to depict their culture, history and struggles against systemic racism.
Growing up, Paul received a lot of support from David and his father, which helped foster his creativity. Later in life, he took on teaching roles at multiple colleges and high schools.
Now, Paul has over 60 murals to his name, most of which were painted in East LA. He uses storytelling to paint visual narratives, images and iconography that incorporate indigenous culture as well as social and political advocacy.
”Behind these icons — these images are symbolism,” he said. “Things represent more than what they appear to be.”
Politics, a strong sense of justice, as well as pride in his culture, history, and his own ideas and philosophy all play a major role in his artwork.
“I support fighting the injustices of society, and I show that in my art,“ he said. “Being spiritual and not religious, the power of love, kindness, unity, community and beauty could all be part of my mural.”
“El Corrido de Boyle Heights” depicts mariachis playing at a restaurant with families dining and people dancing. It represents past culture as well as the evolution of shoes through a person’s life and the symbolism they carry.
“It was a symbol of all the different shoes people have in their lives, from baby shoes, all of that,” David said.
While creating the mural, David said people would often question its meaning but would also compliment it. The mural sparked such curiosity that David said he had to assign someone to answer questions.
“We like feedback from the community,” David said. “And now I understand, according to the city, the community wants it restored.”
Today, the mural is tagged with graffiti, losing the historic and sentimental value it once had to the community. The art that David and his team spent countless hours on is now covered and faded.
“It just shows disrespect, the young people feel that their name is more important than the message that we’re leaving to the community,” he said. “All of our murals have lessons, culture, and respect, and they’re not understanding that.”
David suggested spreading awareness through educational institutions or local newspapers that would inform the younger generation on the issue of vandalism and the meaning behind murals and their importance.
“I always thought it would be a good thing to go to junior highs, because that’s where teachers could go and talk about respecting murals and what they mean,” said David.
At 79, David is unable to restore “El Corrido de Boyle Heights” on his own, but his brother Paul is seeking funding.
“I’m hoping to restore a third of it to get people excited and motivated, hopefully, but funding from the LA County Department of Cultural Affairs is taking forever,” said Paul Botello, adding that it’s too much work for too little pay.
David hopes the younger generation will continue restoring murals throughout the community and take action against vandalism.