Artists fight for their right to express themselves
Henna artists have convinced the city’s arts commission they shouldn’t be banned from performing their work and they shouldn’t be treated like criminals when they do.
The Santa Monica Arts Commission drafted a letter at its Monday meeting urging city council members to reconsider their decision last year to ban Henna artists from performing in the city.
“We value this ancient art form and feel it only broadens the cultural and artistic experience of both Santa Monica residents and tourists visiting our fine city,” the commission’s letter reads. “We encourage the city to find a regulated way for Henna artists to have a continued presence in our public life.”
The Santa Monica City Council voted 4-3 in October to ban Henna artists from the Third Street Promenade and the pier, saying some of artists are posing a public safety risk. The ban took effect Jan. 1.
Some council members think the temporary tattooing is not a performance, but a form of cosmetology and if Henna is on the mall, hair braiding may be next.
Henna is a non-permanent dye used in tattooing. However, some artists use dangerous toxic chemicals that have given the 5,000-year-old art form a bad rap in Santa Monica.
The three councilmen that voted to keep Henna in the city agree that it’s an art form and should be included under the city’s street performer ordinance — just like a clown who does face painting. Councilmen Kevin McKeown, Richard Bloom and Mayor Mike Feinstein lost to the majority vote. Feinstein vowed to bring back the issue again when a new council is sworn in sworn in next year.
Proponents of Henna argue that the artists are just another causality in a war between community leaders who have intensely different visions of what the future of the city’s commercial core should be. Public safety is just an excuse to get rid of Henna, they have said.
554,“Supporters of Henna Artists’ Right to Express,” has been actively campaigning the city to lift the ban since January by gathering petition signatures and now has the backing from the arts commission.
But the commission’s support most likely won’t be enough to convince any of the four council members who voted for the ban to change their minds. Council members Bob Holbrook, Ken Genser, Herb Katz and Pam O’Connor have all said they won’t back down on their positions.
O’Connor said she had agreed to meet with the artists to hear their side, but then changed her mind when one of them threatened to sue the city at the commission’s meeting.
“I wasn’t poised to change my mind,” she said. “If they are threatening to sue I’m not talking to anyone.
“With a threat, it brings it to another level of discussion,” she added.
Artists like Luke Chanthadara continue to perform on the outdoor mall and continue to receive citations for operating without a city permit.
The artists say the city has inaccurately stated the ancient Mehndi art form is a tattoo. They argue it’s a safe art form and is part of their right to express themselves under the Constitution. They have just as much right to perform on the mall as do the creative portrait artists, balloon clowns and artistic flower makers, they argue.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 21, 2002. Read the original PDF.