Our beautiful murals from artist Nicholas Danger are a visual celebration of a Idyllwild’s long, colorful history.  Dozens of locals and visitors take photos of them every week.  They have helped move Idyllwild’s footprint further uptown and even created the opportunity for Pints in the Pines, a mural festival we organized to raise thousands of dollars for a beloved local animal-based non-profit.  

The murals were up for over a year before a local individual started calling code enforcement demanding the murals be removed as we did not ask permission from the historical district’s Board of Directors prior to painting (one of which is going around saying she’ll have them “torn down” so we do not have a lot of faith in them approving the designs).

We DID get permission from the building’s owner, who was among those that helped form the Historical District.  Paint Color was never supposed to be written in the code, which has been proven through old meeting minutes. Changing decade-old miswritten code is a bureaucratic nightmare that may take up to two years, as multiple departments of the county are involved.  

A county official from Parks asked that Code Enforcement give us extra time to respond to the complaints, due to the fact that paint color was never supposed to be written into the code.  Code Enforcement is doing their best to be understanding of our situation but are getting up to 1-2 phone calls A DAY from this individual demanding that code enforcement take action and threatening legal repercussions if they do not.  Worst case scenario is the county sending out a third party contractor to paint the murals back to white and bill US for it. We are sick at the idea of someone defacing this incredible one-of-a-kind ORIGINAL ARTWORK.   

We are asking for anyone who loves our murals, Nicholas Danger’s awesome artwork, hell, artwork in general to sign this petition as a sign of their support.  The local Downtown Historical District Board (appointed by our county supervisor) has ALL THE POWER TO STOP THIS.

We are also asking anyone who has ever taken a photo of the murals or a selfie in front of them to please send those directly to Idyllwild Area Historical Society (not affiliated with the Preservation District but keepers of our local history and culture) with the subject line “SAVE WILD IDY’S MURALS” - info@idyllwildhistory.org. 

� SIDE NOTE: Psychedelics seem to be part of the problem here…specifically the “psychedelic graffiti” depicted in the murals (as described by the angry complainer).  Psychedelics have been a part of Idyllwild’s counterculture since at least the1960’s when Timothy Leary brought his Brotherhood of Eternal Love to a ranch in mountain center to make their infamous Orange Sunshine Acid.  
Our fireplace mural is a giant totem, depicting a version of the legend of Tahquitz, where he was trapped in a cave under the granite monolith by the spirit of a bird and a serpent.  The fireplace is a love letter to Idyllwild’s local folklore and Cahuilla legends and ironically, someone is using Historical Code to try to remove it.
We feel deeply inspired by and connected to Idyllwild’s History and take great offense at the notion that only one kind of art is supposed to be expressed in a town whose welcome sign reads “home of adventure, music, art, and harmony.”  Please show your support for artists, counterculture, history and community by supporting #savethemurals