Is Graffiti Really Vandalism?

Hi, my name is Chandrea Lack and for my English project, I will be focusing on the topic of graffiti. Have you ever thought about how the writings on the walls got there? How did such a blank and empty space get crowded with so much emotion and images that people go to look at and take pictures at? Everything on the walls of Philly has a purpose, what started all of these murals you see on building walls or abandoned houses all started with graffiti. Graffiti is a common form of art (in some eyes) that is considered vandalism. This is because the government claims that these graffiti artists are drawing on private property. The amount of respect for graffiti is looked down upon specifically because it’s considered vandalism and the destroying of property homes. Graffiti is created by children and adults from the age of 12- 19. The murals you see all over Philly and if not other places out the of state too, there are murals on the walls and they are inspired by the smallest bit of graffiti as said in this video. In the first half of the video, it explains how graffiti that was drawn on poles, in cities, or anywhere available. This kind of graffiti was then claimed to be destruction and the graffiti artists were soon told that they would not be able to vandalize property but instead draw murals.

The general reason why this topic is important to me is because the thought of art always stuck with me. I always saw anything with color and a unique creation was special to me and growing up with art teachers and them teaching us how to draw simple things like lines and circles were always helpful for me. It helped me see the world as just something more than a big ball of creation, but also art. Graffiti is also meaningful to me because some people make a living off of this, there are some graffiti programs that let people write on walls so that they are displayed to the public. A site that displays some form of graffiti is the Graffiti Pier. I think it’s important if more people knew about this because it’s something you don’t see everyday since most of the graffiti that are written on either public or private walls are being erased by city workers, people who like art or enjoy the sights of it should consider looking at graffiti. Street art can also be a way for people to express their feelings and thoughts on nonliving things such as walls or poles, but can’t be expressed in front of anyone else. That could also be a problem because the more we know about the people who might want to hurt themselves is another life that’s lost.

The problem with this is that not many people agree with this, because the government says it is vandalism, we all assume that graffiti is vandalism. Public property that is not used stays untouched. While the government could be worrying about building more hospitals or offices for people to work in, they leave these abandoned homes untouched. These abandoned homes can also help homeless people. Most graffiti artists can tell which is private and public property, the most you see of these writings on the walls are under the bridges of Philly, on abandoned walls, near the Philadelphia Zoo, and under the bridges of the schuylkill river. Instead of having to look at plain brown rust, these visual artists are doing their community a favor by showing their talent and skill. The small things like that can lead into bigger things like murals. These murals are inspiration, creations made from something simple, something that uses a limited amount of colors, lines, and other shapes, but they aren’t considered vandalism. Plus they are seen on walls of homes and buildings but then graffiti can’t be drawn on abandoned bridges?

For more information on the topic “Is Graffiti Really Vandalism?” you can look into my research. If you are also interested in looking at more links to find these artists there are also some provided here.