LOS ANGELES — An artist’s floating studio, designed as part of a project to bring attention to LA’s contaminated waterways, was damaged as it was dragged from the water by authorities local. LA County Public Works has removed artist Sterling Wells’ makeshift studio raft from Ballona Creek after news reports and online posts described the piece as a possible encampment with no accommodations.

Wells typically creates his plein air watercolors of polluted waters as close to source as possible, sometimes partially submerged, standing in barrels buried in shallow water, and working from an easel. He embraces the moments when water hits the paper, washing away the paint and leaving a buildup of mud.

In preparation for his solo exhibition, which opens July 8 at the Night Gallery, Wells built a studio raft to float atop Los Angeles’ Ballona Creek, a contaminated waterway that empties into the Pacific Ocean. Anchored in a fixed position, the raft would allow him to work on paintings for several days, leave objects overnight, and capture changing conditions. “The easel and barrel setup allows me to paint everything in front of me and just below the surface of the water, but I wanted to push my outdoor practice and convention and work bigger,” Wells said. Hyperallergic.

But after building the raft daily for three weeks, a Reddit post and local media coverage drew attention to the project, and LA County Public Works eventually removed the studio from the creek, destroying parts in the process. The experience took Wells down a path of bureaucratic frustration and exposed deeper issues that reverberated through Los Angeles.

LA County Public Works has yet to respond to Hyperallergic request for comment.

Wells’ troubles began on June 1 when a Reddit user posted an image of the artist standing in the water as he built the raft. Hundreds of commentators expressed concern about Ballona Creek’s polluted waterways and debated whether the artist’s use of water fell under maritime law. Users also speculated about Wells’ presence, with some saying he had to avoid LA’s notorious traffic and others reflecting on the cost of living and the housing crisis in the city.

“Houseboats contributed to the housing crisis in Amsterdam in the 1960s, why not here?” commented one user.

“Charming studio with a view of the water. No air conditioning but good ventilation. $7,000/mo,” another joked.

These concerns are part of why Wells wanted to work there on Ballona Creek. He scouted the site over a year ago and chose it for its uncultivated nature as well as its location at the confluence of two streams which borders several jurisdictions and is under the management of different agencies overseeing the land, the water and fill. A triangular expanse of marsh lies in the creek and bears evidence of ancient unsheltered encampments, as well as pylons of stalled bridge construction.

The creek is also home to many seabirds, which Wells intended to paint through bird blinds in the raft that allow close viewing without disturbing them.

Following interest on Reddit, Wells’ issues snowballed. June 6, FoxNews posted aerial video of the artist lying on a cot behind a drop cloth. “It felt like I was living on the raft, and I think that was the problem,” Wells said. “I finished building late the day before and brought everything to paint the next morning. I lay down when I arrived. I knew it was a mistake, but it was the only time I slept over there.

Wells heard a helicopter overhead and saw a reporter pointing it out on the embankment. “I went kayaking and found out they had been watching me for a while and the moment I slept on the bed it made headlines,” Wells said. Having spoken with Wells, Fox reported that the raft, seen as a homeless encampment, was indeed part of the artist’s practice. SCS Also filmed the raft and reported it as a homeless person’s boat.

“The region is in this protracted battle with the homeless,” Wells explained. “I saw him constantly. The fence was opened, people set up their homes, camps were removed, and the cycle began again. At the same time, residents of neighboring apartments walk their dogs and jog, so there is a gray area over who can use the space and how.

The next morning, June 7, Wells returned to find LA County Public Works dragging his studio out of the water. Although he had been on the site at various locations for over a year, including painting last spring and summer, it wasn’t until he built the raft and it looked like a house that problems have arisen. He credits the complex jurisdiction for allowing him to stay under the radar for so long.

After the raft was removed, Wells and Night Gallery applied for a permit to be on the site, called a flood access permit, and Public Works allowed them to leave the structure on the embankment during this process. At this point, Wells discovered that jurisdiction was more complex than he thought, because some of the land is privately owned. On June 14, he received a call from someone claiming to own the property and was upset that the raft was there.

“The next day my permit with Public Works was denied,” Wells said. “We never received a clear answer as to why it was denied, but after all my follow-up calls I think the media coverage and the owner’s anger definitely had something to do with it.”

A week later, the raft was taken to the Night Gallery for display in Wells’ next show, now titled A new flood in reference to flood access permit emails. On June 23, Wells said Public Works told him he couldn’t be there at all.

“I’ve been painting in water for a year and now that they’re paying attention, I can’t be here,” Wells said. “I’m being pushed away little by little, but I’m still painting. And I didn’t abandon the raft. I want to use everything I learned and try again with a license in the future.