Los Angeles Times

Homeless artist wants to 'be the light' on LA's skid row

LOS ANGELES - He keeps his spray paint cans in an old cooler. His acrylic paints and chalk are stashed in a cracked milk crate. They are piled under a blue tarp beside two large dog kennels. A pair of well-trained pit bulls, Big Ugly and Space Ghost, sniff the air. If a stranger with bad intent ducks into this space, they know what to do.

Crushow Herring ducks out from under the makeshift canopy, squeezing along a chain-link fence, past the jumble of clothes and toiletries in his tent, and emerges at the corner of 5th Street and Central Avenue on skid row in downtown Los Angeles.

He takes a deep breath. The air is damp and cool after an early morning rain, and a man in green track pants and a baggy blue sweatshirt is hanging a damp

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times4 min read
Sam Rubin, KTLA Journalist And Longtime Entertainment Anchor, Dies At 64
LOS ANGELES — Sam Rubin, a veteran journalist who anchored KTLA’s entertainment coverage for more than 30 years, died Friday in Los Angeles. He was 64. Anchor Frank Buckley confirmed the reporter’s death during an emotional announcement on Friday aft
Los Angeles Times4 min read
Review: Ncuti Gatwa And Millie Gibson Lead A Bright New Era For Sci-fi Series 'Doctor Who'
After a transitional trilogy of specials that saw the return of popular Tenth Doctor David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor and introduced his successor Ncuti Gatwa, followed by a Christmas special that brought companion Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) o
Los Angeles Times3 min read
Solar Storm Heading To Earth Could Disrupt Communications And Bring Northern Lights To California
LOS ANGELES — A different kind of storm could complicate this weekend's plans. For the first time since January 2005, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has issued a severe geomagnetic storm watch for Friday evening. The catego

Related Books & Audiobooks