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Keep an eye out as you move about Los Angeles this week, there\u2019s a good chance you might catch a 40-foot, traveling work of art. Here\u2019s where you might encounter it and what it means.<\/p>\n
The piece: Using house paint and other materials, Wilmington-raised artist Edgar Ramirez has emblazoned a shipping container with the words \u201cI want to be free\u201d in hues of green and red.<\/p>\n
The quote: Ramirez said the language of his piece, \u201cI Want To Be Free (That\u2019s The Truth),\u201d is a response to a collective fear he senses in our region, whether it\u2019s from ongoing ICE raids or economic hardship.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s like this constant struggle of just trying to make it, you know? And there\u2019s a lot of that throughout Los Angeles,” Ramirez told LAist. “And I think it\u2019s something that a lot of us feel together. But we don\u2019t really talk about it as much as I think we should be.” <\/p>\n
Background: The piece was commissioned by the L.A. County Department of Arts and Culture.<\/p>\n
Will you spot it? Ramirez is on the road now through Friday with his piece, making stops from Burbank all the way to Long Beach, with a public event at Plaza de la Raza on May 1 to coincide with May Day.<\/p>\n
Plan ahead: You can check out a map of Ramirez\u2019s trek on his Instagram<\/a>. The piece is slated to be at Plaza de la Raza<\/a> in East L.A. from 10 a.m. to noon on May 1.<\/p>\n