“I write about graffiti and street art” “Oh the stuff that damages things”

The other day I saw my neighbor taking a rest from his walk. He asked what I had been up to and that his wife had seen what she thought where some of my sculptures up the street. I confirmed this and I also told him that I had been doing some writing. When I told him that I also told him what I was writing about - street art from graffiti to other forms. At that statement, he quickly jumped into

“graffiti damages private property” which was followed by “I do understand though that some people let it happen”.

This did get me thinking again about the discussion in Portland, ME, on how to handle graffiti. (talk-on-graffiti-in-portland-me) But it reminded me how quickly that the first thing that came to my neighbor's mind was graffiti as vandalism and damage. Granted, I was happy to hear him, on his, mention that some people do allow it to happen. The thing that got me, though, is how quick the general public is to jump straight to a negative in regards to street art.

I do think that many people have this response because it is what the general public sees. Some of that is because the schools and street artists are not getting together enough to help educate the public about the unofficial rules of street art, including teaching the skills of these art forms. It has been slowly moving to acceptance in the world of art. It has taken a long time and is still not a fully accepted art form. People still need education on graffiti, yarn bombing, and other street art forms. The start wasnʼt writing on walls in NYC, street art had been going on for a long time. The current focus seems to have erupted in the 70ʼs and the explosion has blossomed to contemporary subjects that go beyond just letters and include full images.

My neighbor is already beyond many in his simple admission that some people accept it as art!