Dear the Seattle Times,
As the president of an art club and an International Baccalaureate Higher Level art student during my junior and senior years at the International School of Bangkok, I organized an activity for children at an orphanage to do art projects every other week. I enjoy art projects because they are one of the ways through which I am able to express my emotions and feelings. Art is about communication, problem-solving, time management, and reflection of everyday life. Art is an ongoing interaction with our world enhanced by the expression of our creativity in form of graffiti, hip-hop, street theatres and graphic novels.
Graffiti is a form of art, and not vandalism. Some people have deep-rooted misconceptions about graffiti and street art. People think spray cans are not valid artistic media because they are used by delinquents and malevolent social activists. Currently, there is an increment in the number of graffiti of which most of them are being used to decorate buildings such as offices. Technical ability is paramount in graffiti. This is due to the fact that an individual is required to have skills, necessary tools and creativity in addition to personal opinion. Graffiti can be described as being a form of self expression.
Artists who specialize in graffiti must ensure their work is appreciated through communicating feelings and ideas to the audience. This is achieved through the incorporation of a great deal of imagination, planning and effort in the development of the graffiti. Considering the effort put in the preparation, it is imperative for people not to take graffiti for granted.
Graffiti adds beauty to the community. This is usually achieved by being painted on abandoned buildings and walls which if left like that would be like eyesores. The aesthetic properties of art need to be embraced like the ancient drawings that were discovered inside a cave. Such kinds of drawings are not categorized as graffiti but are artworks which form a part of a country’s history. In the 21st century, graffiti is categorized as a form of vandalism and offense and not a history.
America therefore needs to do more in the promotion of graffiti. In this regard, the Seattle Public Utilities should stop spending its money on removing graffiti because it is a form of art and a means for people use to express their feelings. More importantly, the authorities and the society in large should appreciate and celebrate the graffiti artists instead of criminalizing them.
To conclude, the Seattle public utilities should embrace graffiti thus saving a lot of vital resources directed towards the maintenance of walls. To address the graffiti issue, the authority should allocate specific and convenient sites that will enable the effective expressions of emotions by artists. A long term strategy would involve the establishment of an art gallery that will boost artists earnings through collection of admission fees from the public. The understanding of graffiti and involvement of all stakeholders in the development of graffiti is imperative if this form of art is to achieve its objective of communicating feelings and ideas to the society.