Ingenuity or Breaking the Law

The big question is graffiti art, or just an act of vandalism? First of all graffiti is illegal in most places around the world. It is a big part of city culture and people send messages through the art. Although these artists are skilled, it’s not a question about their craft. It is a legal issue and people have to understand what the law is here in the United States. I say that although graffiti can be represented as adequate art, it should stay illegal outside of sanctioned murals and private properties that allow it.

Graffiti is vandalism not art, and here is why. “When an area has extensive graffiti, people tend to view it as a “bad neighborhood” (Source 4). This may even make crime higher or decrease certain property values. “Most graffiti art, however, is only an annoyance to the property owner, who is more likely to paint over it or remove it than applaud its artistic merit”(Source 1). I think this is an interesting point because property owners won’t be asking this moral question. They will just be upset with it because they lose time and their own money. Another example of illegal activity, “A friend of mine has had his fence repainted 7 times at least, and it took him a while to find out why it was happening!”(Source 1). For example this one guy had to pay for his fence to be repainted just because the opposing side claims that it was worth it for the special art.\ Would it be a different argument if the artists had to pay all this money to fix their property? In 2006, “Chicago budgeted $6.5 million while Omaha, Nebraska spends about $100,000 annually”(Source 4, graffiti hurts.org.). These numbers alone are something to think about when considering if the art is worth it.

“Graffiti Wall ‘SKAN'” by Jamiecat * is licensed under CC BY 2.0