By Hank Rosenfeld Santa Monica
Editor: Thank you for your story on artist/craftsman/starving American Mikel Proudlock being booted from creating his “forever roses” on the Santa Monica Promenade.
I’ve seen small crowds enjoy watching Mikel twist flowers out of palm fronds, and he doesn't block the thoroughfare like other acts on the Promenade. So what’s the problem? You quote the city attorney saying Santa Monica has “a right to make a distinction between arts and crafts.” Mikel makes his flowers one at a time in front of a crowd — which makes them obviously not “mass produced.”
He also “performs” in front of a crowd, too. So what’s the problem? A Santa Monica senior citizen explained it to me at Joe’s Diner where we read your article: “The bureaucrats don’t like it that Mikel Proudlock is more creative than they are.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 7, 2002. Read the original PDF.