East Austin Mural petition - Free the artists!

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Hey, Austinites--
Just found out about Angel Quesada and Lannea Brooks being arrested
for working on a mural in the Govalle neighborhood. Please read below
about the arrest and the resulting petition, calling on APD to drop
the vandalism/graffiti charges on this charitable act of neighborhood
beautification.
Thanks-- Ellen Stader

TO SIGN THE PETITION, CLICK THE LINK BELOW.

The East Austin Mural Petition to Attorney's Office of Travis County
was created by and written by Angel Quesada (artk...@gmail.com).


Angel Quesada and Lannea Brooks were arrested recently working on a
mural at 2828 Lyons Street on Saturday, October 24th. They are both
being charged with a “Class A” misdemeanor for Graffiti, which carries
a punishment of up to $4,000 and/or a year in jail.


Angel is an accomplished artist and community muralist and has served
for the City of Austin as consultant for the Terrazzas Branch Library
- Ceasar Chavez Memorial when appointed by Councilmember Mike Martinez
during his 3 year artist residence at Mexic-Arte Museum. His most
recent position as an educator for the City of Austin Parks and
Recreation Department’s Mexican American Cultural Center allowed him
to serve the greater Austin Hispanic & Latino Communities by providing
adult educational programming as well as championing Latino Artists
statewide.


Lannea Brooks has recently moved to the Govalle Neighborhood and
frequently engages with the art community in East Austin. The mural in
question was created in the spirit of generosity and is a donation
towards the beautification of the Govalle neighborhood. The permitting
process is currently underway and, once approved, the mural will be
under city care for up to nine years after the approval process is
completed in 2009.

Angel was detained in the Travis County Jail about 18 hours with
Graffiti charges before being released on his own recognizance; his
pre-trial is on Monday, November 9th and has posted a $2,500 bond.
Lannea was detained at the Travis County Correctional Facility in Del
Valle for four days before posting a $2,500 bail and awaits her
pretrial on November 12th.


We need your help! By signing this petition, you can help prevent
Angel and Lannea from being unjustly punished for beautifying our
neighborhood. They sincerely appreciate your help.

To the Attorney’s Office of Travis County;
We, the undersigned people of Austin, call on the Travis County
Attorney Office to drop all charges against Angel Quesada who was
arrested for and charged with Graffiti as they were engaged in
painting a mural at the embankment wall / bridge 2828 Lyons Street
October 24th, 2009.

Our community and the members thereof are important to us. While we
commend the Austin Police Department for ensuring that our
neighborhood remains safe and we encourage them to continue to do so,
we also recognize that art is an important asset for our communities
and do not consider the acts of either Quesada or Brooks criminal in
nature. Rather, we appreciate having an accomplished artist like Angel
Quesada increase the aesthetic value of our neighborhood by painting
murals on unsightly surfaces. These acts, we strongly believe, are not
acts of intentional property defacement or tagging. In fact, we hope
that the artwork will be completed.

Sincerely - in Solidarity,
The Undersigned


TO SIGN THE PETITION, CLICK THE LINK BELOW

The East Austin Mural Petition to Attorney's Office of Travis County
was created by and written by Angel Quesada (artk...@gmail.com).

http://www.petitiononline.com/ques2009/petition.html