The Use of Community Art Projects and Murals as a Means of Controlling Graffiti

Over 12,000 individuals were contacted. Responses came from graffiti officers, councillors, community police officers, residents' groups and art project coordinators.

Before embarking on this research my own beliefs and experiences had placed me firmly in the 'all graffiti is bad' camp. Having spent fifteen years removing graffiti, I have seen the upset and damage caused to people and the environment and appreciate how much better the wasted money could have been spent. However, this research has been conducted in a controlled and open-minded manner. The comments and experiences of others have been collated and presented and, I hope, unbiased conclusions drawn from the evidence.

Survey Responses

Residents objected to looking at graffiti art and murals because they did not like what they saw. The content, they said, was aggressive and they did not want it on their doorstep. They considered it to be as bad as the illegal graffiti itself.

This photograph shows a mural created as part of a community art project involving youths in the area. The project was funded by the local council. The mural was sited on a housing estate and the residents complained bitterly. The mural had to be removed, again at the expense of the council.

Comment: I can understand that this type of mural could create a threatening atmosphere. Even if you got used to it yourself you would worry about what visitors would think of the area in which you live. Would it make it more difficult to sell your house?

Click on photo to enlarge

Some contributors said that murals and community art brightened up dreary and dark areas.

Comment: Every town has fly-overs, subways, large structures and retaining walls resulting in endless areas of grey concrete and very little greenery. These areas are often the target of graffiti attacks and cleaning up costs can be high.

There are a number of organisations that can help to transform these gloomy places with murals and community art. For example:

Beyond Graffiti - Southampton
Westway Project - West London
Signal Project - London

Please e-mail us if you know if you are aware of others and we will add them to our list.

Photos by kind permission of BeyondGraffiti

Opposition was expressed to community art projects on the grounds that they restricted artistic freedom. Artists did not like to be dictated to - they did not want to be told what they could and couldn't paint - they wanted the freedom to create without any boundaries.

Comment: Artists like to be free to create as they please. However, an artist's work should not be compulsory viewing for others. A free artist can display their work in places that the public can visit should they wish to, for example, at an exhibition or gallery.

When art becomes community art, then it needs to be acceptable to a large part of the community. Funding will often be provided and an artist will be commissioned to undertake the work. The content and style will be controlled by the commissioner and the artist will exercise their artistic flair within these boundaries. An artist has the freedom not to undertake such work should they choose. Of course, historically, artists have taken on commissions as a way of making a living whilst using their spare time to work without constraints.

A number of community art projects involve the residents in the choice of theme and the choice often reflects the history of an area. It seems logical that involvement in such decisions will lead to greater support for a project and the community trying harder to protect and preserve the work in the future.

Mural created by the Westway Project The Westway project use other forms of medium such as tiles.

Butterfly mural created in Welwyn Garden City with Beyond Graffiti

Is it Art? Many, who responded, were tired of graffiti and saw it only as a crime with no artistic merit.

Comment: Most graffiti found on our streets consists of scribbled 'tags'. These tags are sprayed on to any and all surfaces with little regard for the damage it causes.

It is upsetting to find a tag sprayed onto the wall of your home. It feels as though someone is attacking you as an individual.

I would estimate that 99% of graffiti found on the streets is scribbled tags with only 1% showing any artistic merit. Areas hidden from public view, such as railway embankments, tend to have a larger proportion of artistic graffiti.

Art project coordinators said that they re-educate and stimulate graffiti vandals, enabling them to use their talents more productively. They also try to persuade them not to re-offend. The youths involved often had deprived backgrounds and expressed themselves in destructive ways. Involving them in community art projects showed them what they could achieve and helped them to take pride in their neighbourhoods and channel their energy in positive ways.

Comment: It is a sad fact that vandals are destroying whole communities with their bad behaviour.

As one survey respondent stated "we are suffering from many years of liberal attitudes where personal freedom has taken over at the expense of personal responsibility. Young people in particular have pushed back the boundaries of acceptable behaviour and the community and the environment have suffered. It is time for the freedom-responsiblity balance to be redressed".

We cannot afford to just give up on youths. Many art projects throughout the UK attempt to engage with with disaffected young people. Fabulous art pieces are created that brighten up their environment and help to bring the whole community together. These projects are only part of the solution, but a valuable part.

Graffiti vandals should not be encouraged by involving them in art projects. Some said that teaching youths how to use spray cans to produce art was wrong because they may then go and try it out in illegal areas.

Comment: It must be so tempting to practice newly acquired skills, and would probably be hard for some to resist a large, clean, open wall. Why learn a new skill if you are unable to practise it. Of course, teaching 'graffiti art' will stress the importance of not spraying illegal graffiti, but it must be appreciated that students will want to practice their new skills. Even if students are asked only to paint on large boards, these would be expensive and difficult to store.

Graffiti artists said that there was nowhere to practice their art. They needed large canvasses but these were not available. So they used walls and trains instead.

Comment: There are few places to legally paint such large pieces of work. Those few areas that are created soon become obliterated with graffiti and there is the risk that the graffiti artists will move onto other areas.

Swaythling Youth Centre, Southampton was handed over to graffiti artists in 2002 at the UnKanned graffiti convention.

Community police officers showed some sympathy for the vandals. They realised that there could be great talent in the graffiti vandal and that it was being channeled into illegal practices. Illegal because there are few places that their work can be done legally.

A councillor expressed concern that the police are too soft when vandals are caught. He felt that being lenient when punishing offenders offered no deterrent to others. The councillor also felt that this soft approach would do more harm in the long run because individuals going through a graffiti phase during their youth could jeopardise their whole future should they acquire a criminal record. He felt that stiffer sentences were required as a deterrent.

Comment: I can see that there is a risk of an otherwise law abiding youth being caught and acquiring a criminal record. I am tempted to show some sympathy if the offender was creating graffiti art of merit on an out-of the way wall but no sympathy for the prolific and damaging 'tagger'. The situation and the law as it stands does not differentiate between the two.

CONCLUSIONS

At the start of this survey I stated that after 15 years of combating graffiti I was biased and that my views placed me firmly in the 'all graffiti is bad' camp. To my surprise, after this piece of research, I now find myself in the 'most graffiti is bad, but it could be good' camp.

I have been amazed at what some can achieve with a spray can. It seems that by allowing time to create a piece of work then the quality of the finished work increases dramatically. More time is spent on the design, more time on the preparation and more time on the actual work. The longer the work is able to stay in place, no doubt, the more time will be spent on it. Because spraying graffiti is illegal, then time to create the work is short and the resulting quality is poor. In fact, 99% of graffiti is reduced to 'tag' scrawl.

It is possible that part of the graffiti problem is the fact that it is illegal. If graffiti vandalism became legal in designated areas then illegal graffiti might dramatically reduce. Those who created graffiti because they enjoyed it would be able to do so legally. Those who sprayed graffiti to cause misery could no longer claim that they had no where else to do it, thus minimising any public or police sympathy for them.

Sites for legal graffiti

Two types of location are proposed. The first is tried and tested and the second is suggested as a way forward:

1. Public areas with regular access such as subways. These areas require the content and style to be controlled with the local population involved in the choice of theme. Council-employed art coordinators and other art groups are able to involve local youths in design and creation.

2. Public areas without regular access. These could be retaining walls at one end of an open space with no through access or specially constructed walls arranged so that the outer walls seen by the public are neutral and the unseen inner surfaces are open canvasses for free graffiti art.
These areas could be called 'Graffiti Galleries'. Having seen the quality of work that can be created I could see myself visiting these as I would a normal art gallery. Of course, whether or not I took my children would depend what decency rules were decided upon. It is also possible, although not part of this survey, that a wall or two could be handed over to flyposters in a bid to reduce that problem.

Maintenance of graffiti sites:

1. Murals in public spaces tend to be of a permanent nature and require protecting with an anti-graffiti coating so that illegal graffiti tags can be cleaned off. These coatings are expensive and have a limited life of five to ten years. In fact, consideration also has to be given to how permanent a mural is. As a community changes, it may wish to recreate the mural. It is believed that a community involved in a mural will look after it, so it is logical to expect a mural to be recreated on a periodically.

2. 'Graffiti Galleries' - the surfaces for free graffiti would need to be clearly identifiable and painted in white textured masonry paint (white because it is the cheapest and provides the best backdrop for the artwork, textured as the spray paint is less likely to run). The surface would need to be painted over every three months. This should be sufficient time to warrant the effort taken to produce the work. It would be better to divide the gallery into three zones so that one zone is overpainted every month providing a regular fresh canvas. Notices should clearly state the next 'White-Out' (paint-over date). The schedule should be firmly adhered to so that artists know when they will next have a clean canvas and to stop them moving back to illegal sites.
In terms of funding, I see a legal 'Graffiti Gallery' as no different to the funding of another public service - a museum, a swimming pool or a childrens' play park. Although some capital may be required to set up a graffiti gallery, the ongoing costs would be low - it does not take very long to spray open white walls with an industrial sprayer.
A real problem of a graffiti gallery would be that it may become a meeting place and a site of antisocial behaviour. Alcohol may be consumed and the spray paints may drift to other areas. It would be necessary to place the 'Graffiti Gallery' on the community policeman's beat - day and night. This contact, in this new setting, may facilitate police and youth relations.

Wider community involvement and competitions in 'Graffiti Galleries'.

As part of the monthly 'White-Out' the surfaces could be photographed before painting over. The pictures could be posted on a website and the public asked to vote for their favourites. The winner could then be commissioned to recreate their work in a more public area where it could remain for twelve months until the next winner was announced.
Regional and National finals could be held with the winners creating permanent works in our major centres. Railway companies may also consider allowing artists to access parts of their network during safe maintenance periods to create work for passengers to appreciate instead of the endless scribbled tags.

Ban on sale of spray paint to youths Allowing the legal spraying of graffiti does cause conflict with the ban on the sale of spray paint to young people. However, I was informed during the survey that graffiti artists have few concerns over this since they obtain their spray paint over the Internet. They use a different spray paint to that obtainable in shops - they do not like to use car spray paint because it is horrible to breathe, smells awful you can't get it off yourself or your clothes. The tops that are supplied with the cans are also of little use for graffiti work so they buy new ones anyway. Also, a large can of spraypaint for graffiti art costs £2.40 plus Vat and a small can of car spray paint considerably more.

Photo by kind permission of BeyondGraffiti

Acceptance of 'Graffiti Galleries' by young people

It may not enough for Local Authorities to set up 'Graffiti Galleries', arrange 'White Outs', provide art coordinators and initiate competitions. I have been told that the graffiti community is anti-establishment and may reject these ideas. However, by introducing the 'Graffiti Galleries' at a very local level, on a ward by ward or even estate by estate basis, and by encouraging the young people in each area to be involved and take ownership, then there is a better chance of them embracing their 'Graffiti Gallery'.

There are those that might say that my conclusions are naive and that these ideas will change nothing. As I said at the start, I wanted to be open-minded and unbiased - I have looked at the evidence and have listened to peoples' comments and experiences and I have drawn logical conclusions. But then, of course, what other choice do we have? To carry on and do nothing different, and watch as the graffiti clean-up bills grow and our neighbourhoods continue to suffer.

Tony Parkes
GraffitiHotline.co.uk

• To send your comments and views on this survey and its conclusions please e-mail us. Replies will be posted in our Forum.
• Should you wish to set up a 'Graffiti Gallery' then please contact us. We would like to follow its progress