Is Graffiti Considered Art?

It is very hard to pass through any city without seeing various forms of graffiti gracing its building’s walls. Although it may seem like artists expressing themselves in a creative way, it is also considered vandalism and a destruction of property. I do believe that graffiti is art, but defacing other people’s property is unacceptable and shouldn’t be encouraged.

For a graffiti artist to tag someone else’s property, that would be considered illegal. Because, in some places you need to be over 18 to purchase spray paint, it is commonly stolen from local businesses. “…graffiti vandals often shoplift their materials, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.” (Source 4). This means most of the time, graffiti artists are doing multiple illegal things. In some instances, a graffiti artist can be commissioned by the property owner to create a piece of art in a completely legal way. “Graffiti artists can create sanctioned murals for private property owners and get paid for it.” (Source 1). By creating their artwork this way, the risk of being arrested goes away. There are plenty of legal ways for these “artists” to express themselves, without breaking the law.

Not only can graffiti be annoying to look at, but it is also very annoying and expensive to clean up. It may not seem like it is a big deal to clean up some spray paint, but the numbers say otherwise. “In 2006, Chicago budgeted $6.5 million while Omaha, Nebraska spends about $100,000 annually,” (Source 4). Some of the United States’ bigger cities are spending a lot of money on cleaning up graffiti, when they could be spending it on more essential things. These cities usually employ someone to clean up the graffiti which can be costly, “In a nearby area the local council employs someone to go around and repaint any fences defaced by graffiti.” (Source 1). By employing someone, the city is just spending more and more money on something that could be easily avoided. If graffiti artists could create their artwork legally, cities would spend a lot less money annually.

Graffiti might be considered art, but it doesn’t mean it should be acceptable. Graffiti is considered illegal, but there are legal ways for these artists to express their creativity. Graffiti cleanup also costs bigger cities a lot of money that could be spent on other things. People should stop vandalizing other people’s property and create their art the legal way.

“graffiti” by Automatomato is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0