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Meet the Sign Painters

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Hand painted sign at Italiano's Pizza

For the Full Dollar Collection of Contemporary Art, commercial sign painters will collaborate with fine artists in creating hand painted signage on select storefronts along York Blvd. in Highland Park, Los Angeles. Each sign painter will work to appropriate the style and/or work of an artist, using their unique techniques as a commercial artist to produce a piece of public art that will also act to attract attention to the collaborating business.

We interviewed each of the sign painters involved with the project; click on each of the links below to watch the video interviews:


  • Agbey Hommey came to Los Angeles from Ghana in 2006 to further his education in art. He received his training from the sign painting program at L.A. Trade Tech. He also enjoys painting watercolor images of life in Ghana.
  • Kimberley Edwards aka the "Window Goddess": Discovering that sign painting was the most fulfilling way to create her art, Kimberley trained in the sign painting program L.A. Trade Tech. She specializes in brightly-colored window splashes, which she has been commissioned to do for numerous businesses and film sets.
  • Art Tapia is a young Highland Park artist who's passionate about graffiti art, but also has been painting signs and doing commercial art for years. He's responsible for the colorful illustrations of cartoon characters on the outside walls of Junior's Discount Party Supplies.
  • Brad Dutsch is a muralist and sign painter whose work ranges from lettering for high school gymnasiums to an enormous American Eagle-inspired mural on the side of the Alhambra post office.
  • Rodolfo Cardona: Originating from Sonsonate, El Salvador, Rodolfo worked as a graphic designer for a newspaper before coming to Los Angeles to pursue work as an artist. Both his acrylic paintings of life in El Salvador and his commercial work for local businesses and public murals often depict colorful, cheerful details.

Full Dollar Collection of Contemporary Art is an initiative that aims to reconsider the tradition of public art through a collaboration between artists, sign painters, and business owners.

 

The Full Dollar Collection of Contemporary Art is developed through a partnership between:

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