Re: ‘Graffiti zone’ no more than creative tagging, Oct. 4.
There are worse things for a teenager/artist to do than participate in creating public art.
I wish there were more sanctioned places where creating public art would be condoned, even encouraged, by the city.
The line between art and vandalism is sometimes hazy when it comes to graffiti. The challenge, in my opinion, becomes how do you make the ‘graffiti zone’ feel like a safe place without stifling creative expression?
What about offering to pay for supplies and encouraging some young people (teenagers, or even elementary students) to create design proposals? Materials would need to be supplied, and a theme created. Perhaps some blank frames could be left open for comments or drawings by the public?
Alternately, the city could hire an artist to paint a creative structure for example. Outline fantastical creatures leaving the faces blank. Inside the blank spaces really would be a free graffiti zone and families could let their children use chalk to complete the picture.
Doing this would make the art feel purposeful, friendly and inclusive.
Some people might feel that if this were done, a ‘tagger’ might come along and ruin the work. While this is indeed possible, leaving spaces in the artwork might make this a non-issue.
I don’t think there are that many graffiti vandals out there who would ruin a child’s work.
The Parkway Trail tunnel will continue to have this problem and the city will continue to have to pay for the clean up. Why not make something out of the space, instead? What would be so bad about an outdoor art exhibit?
Valentina Cardinalli
Nanaimo
