Unusual Pledge Upsets 'Night Gallery' Artists

Painters who spent months drawing movie star portraits on nighttime security doors along Hollywood's Walk of Fame allege that they were shortchanged by as much as half of what they were owed when the time came for their final payment.

Artists say that to receive their last checks, they had to sign an unusual pledge never to complain about their treatment or criticize those in charge of the door project. Any violation would result in a fine that far exceeded what they earned on the project.

The celebrity portraits were financed by the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency through an independent group called the Hollywood Beautification Team.

The art project, launched two years ago, was intended to brighten the grimy steel roll-up doors that are lowered at night when Hollywood Boulevard shops and stores are closed.

Painters say that after months of wrangling over pay they were forced to sign an agreement never to "disparage" leaders of the Hollywood Beautification Team before receiving their final checks.

By signing the waiver, artists agreed "to pay liquidated damages to the disparaged person in the amount of $15,000 per occurrence" if they criticized their treatment.

"It's almost blackmail," grumbled artist Preston Craig, who earned $3,700 painting eight of the roll-up doors but forfeited his final check by refusing to sign the don't-disparage waiver.

Operators of the 12-year-old Hollywood Beautification Team, which cleans streets, paints murals and plants trees, deny wrongdoing.

"It's inappropriate to tell lies about people to try to extort money out of people," Sharyn Romano, the chief executive, said of the artists. "We tried to be generous -- I guess it's a lesson I've learned."

During the time they worked on the doors, the artists were on the beautification team's weekly payroll, Romano said. When the project ended on time and amid praise, "I offered them a bonus," she said.

The artists were paid from $92,000 in grant funding from the redevelopment agency. During the 2 1/2-month project, there was discussion about pay raises because of the challenge of the nighttime work and of painting on corrugated steel-door surfaces, according to several of them.