A blank, beige space wraps around the Culver City Department of Motor Vehicles on Washington Boulevard, an empty absence where the locally loved “Moonscapes” showed a portal to space for decades.
Painted in 1979 by artists David Botello and Wayne Alaniz Healy, the mural spanned four exterior walls of the DMV, featuring retro-futuristic imagery of moon motorcycles, spaceships, and sci-fi landscapes. Titled Moonscapes I–IV, the mural was over 500 feet long and aimed to capture a contemporary vision through a sci-fi lens.
On February 25, Paul Botello—David’s brother, who helped paint Moonscapes in 1979—learned of the mural’s destruction from a friend who was headed to Los Angeles International Airport, and spotted the paint crew. Paul rushed to the site, where a DMV supervisor apologized and claimed they had tried—but failed—to contact the artists.
One of the workers painting over the wall reportedly told Paul, “It’s old and it’s gotta go.”
When Paul got there three walls were completely white-washed. The fourth wall had not yet been painted due to the long line of walk-in customers that wrapped around the outside of the DMV.
In an email to David Botello, Mrs. Woodland, a Department of Motor Vehicles representative in Sacramento, explained that the mural was removed due to graffiti and the deteriorating condition of the redwood/plywood panels where the murals were painted on.
Nevertheless, Mrs. Woodland called a halt to the paintings right away. Among the surviving visuals are a freeway with the phrase along the lines of it’s a smog day, don’t drive too much, and a red-flashing dashboard message: “Switch to alternate energy.”
This removal may have violated the California Art Preservation Act, which prohibits the destruction of public artwork without giving the artist 90 days’ notice and the opportunity to remove or preserve the work. David Botello never received such a notice. “They could have easily found me,” he said, pointing out that a simple online search turns up numerous interviews and references to his work.
The DMV claimed they tried to reach the artist using a PO Box listed on the mural, which no longer exists.
David also noted the DMV could have contacted the California Arts Council to locate and notify Botello.
Efforts to restore parts of the mural are already underway. A specialized gel from the University of Florence will be used to remove the top layer of paint on certain areas. Paul Botello will repaint some sections, as David is currently recovering from a crushed vertebra.
“We’ll bring it back, little by little,” David Botello said, adding that he hopes to eventually bill the DMV for the cost of reproducing the artwork and preserving its legacy.
Clara Caravlho