Monday, March 24, 2008

Good Directions for the Road

To Richard Ankrom it is an Art

Interstate 5 Shield
My own photo of an I5 shield.

Frustrated by confusing directions to North Interstate 5 from the California 110 freeway, Richard Ankrom, fine artist and sign painter exceeded his fifteen minutes by a mere five as he installed a three foot high “North Interstate 5” shield to an overhead exit sign. He performed the installation in broad daylight and in full view disguised as an orange-vested Caltrans worker.

Striving for accuracy in every detail, Ankrom studied federal and state sign manuals and even did a fashion study of Caltrans work attire for the project. Friends videotaped and photographed the whole twenty-minute process.

Nine months later, Caltrans discovered the ‘guerilla sign work’ and issued the following statement: "The work of Mr. Ankrom was very well thought out and very well executed. However, we have concerns because we do not feel that the public should go out on the highway system and make changes to signs, due to safety issues."

I’d love to know what they said about Dr. June McCarroll.

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