Graffiti Covered Walls

Boston, New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C, are just some of the big cities that I have visited and you can’t walk 2 blocks without seeing graffiti. Walls covered with colorful paint and chalk are inevitable in larger cities, even small cities. You will come across graffiti walls that will take your breath away because of how detailed and colorful the walls are. But one of the big arguments that people will make is that people spray paint on places that are private and should stay clean, which I do agree with, but if the building is run down, no longer in use, or if the owner is in favor of graffiti, people should be able to show off their skills with this different and fascinating style of art.

Every piece of art has a meaning. This also goes for graffiti, “…a form of art and not just a result of random acts of vandalism.” (Dolan 3) People who like to spray paint on walls don’t just do it for no reason; They either want to show off their talents, spread a message of some kind, or even try to make an ugly cement wall into something people could enjoy looking at. Whatever the reason behind it is, “graffiti art makes a statement.” (Dolan 3) If you think about all the planning, imagination, and color choices that have to go into big graffiti pieces, there is no doubt that it should be considered art. Compare some of the graffiti pieces that you see now to some of the “art” work now, you’d much rather look at a colorful message making a statement than some random splatters of paint on a canvas that a seven-year-old could’ve configured.

If we look at the other side of this argument, there are several reasons why many people are against graffiti. The main one people have is; “Artists tag both public and private property, which becomes costly for taxpayers and business and property owners.” (Dolan 4) I can’t disagree with that because it is people’s private property, so artists shouldn’t tag those walls. Another big argument they have is that when tourists or just anyone sees an area with a lot of graffiti, they “tend to view it as a ‘bad neighborhood.'” (Dolan 4) There is a concern that young kids who participate in graffiti can end up doing more serious and dangerous crimes down the road, so I can see why people are against this form of art.

But this brings me back to why graffiti should not be looked down upon. There needs to be areas where these artists can show off and legally put their tags somewhere. This way, people passing by can see that it is a designated area so they don’t see it as a bad neighborhood. Going back to what was covered earlier, most people who like to tag walls just want their art to be seen. Every piece of graffiti has a meaning behind it and takes so much creativity that it deserves to be viewed as a serious form of art. So to conclude my opinion on this issue, there needs to be designated areas where artists can show off their work, this way they don’t have to resort to tagging private buildings. This way they don’t have to get in legal trouble and people don’t view graffiti as a sketchy thing.

“graffiti artist” by zoetnet is licensed under CC BY 2.0.