The Urban Asylum

This article from the Times-Herald, in Vallejo, CA goes to prove, once again, that not all graffiti artists are criminals. This art form, whether people like it or not, continues to grow. It's programs like this that are helping to make this urban artform more and more acceptable in the mainstream.

Check it out and feel free to leave comments! Wanna show even more support? Check out "Art is Not a Crime" and "Blank Walls are Criminal" from Bad Monkey Designs - graffiti t-shirts with a message!

Mural program has markings of great success

More than a year ago in this space, we called for official sponsorship of some forms of artistic graffiti after city officials complained that the eradication of less desirable forms was too costly.

Our view was based on the stunning graffiti left behind by some incredibly talented guerilla urban artists on some water tanks that depicted various masterpieces, among other images. While acknowledging that the unsanctioned graffiti was technically vandalism, we wondered if areas of the city could not be beautified in some ways by creating a creative outlet for these and other artists.

In today's Front and Center, staff writer Tony Burchyns tells us about such an effort at Vallejo and Hogan high schools. As part of a federally funded program, students are painting murals after classes not only to add some color to their otherwise drab campuses and but also, hopefully, to discourage the type of gang graffiti that plagues many schools.

This effort, helped by local artist Harold Beaulieu, brings about positive messages of creativity, beauty and fellowship not only to the local high schools, but to the entire community. In an era when art programs are disappearing in cash-strapped school districts, this program gives budding artists, or even those who just want to try painting, a way to work with fellow students on a project. Years from now their work will leave an artsy snapshot for future students of what influenced them.

This fledgling effort has not been without its problems. In an unfortunate snafu, district custodians painted over the initial efforts at Hogan, believing they were fresh examples of illegal vandalism. Officials, meanwhile, say Beaulieu never went through the process to get permission to have the Hogan mural painted. While the students were aghast at the eradication of their work, they were not discouraged and started over without missing a beat.

Gang graffiti, as we noted on Dec. 17, 2006, is rightly viewed as a major contributor to urban decay, declines in property values and losses of businesses and jobs. Efforts to stamp it out, early - and as often as possible - are important.

We believe that Vallejo and Hogan high students agree that gang graffiti on their campuses dampens their school spirit and contributes nothing positive to their educational experience. The Hogan High graffiti message, "Knowledge is Power," however, not only beautifies and excites student senses, but also reinforces from the student perspective the message of education. While there is likely to be some eyebrow-raising artwork that accompanies the message, that, too, is "knowledge."

And that kind of handwriting on the wall is hard to beat - or to paint over.