Graffiti is Art

Susan Phillips (1996) explains in The Dictionary of Art that "because it is impossible to limit or regulate the resources that are available, graffiti as an art form and expressive medium is expandable, flexible, and difficult to control.". Regardless if the government considers this a crime or not, they have no way of regulating the consistency of it because of all that is so easily available like spray paints, paint cans, paint brushes, etc. Parents buy these items for their kids school art projects so what makes it any different for a graffiti artist to buy them? Their kids are using the art supplies in the same way as the graffiti artist but are sometimes just in different locations or on different canvases. No one ever called a kids school project a criminal offense, it is just seen as a creative aspect to unleash and express themselves. That is what graffiti is for graffiti artists. As long as they don't use their talent to their advantage and vandalize personal property, society will start acknowledging graffiti in a more positive light. 

If the artists are given opportunities to show that what they are doing is truly an art form then people will start believing them. In Minneapolis, one outside wall of a market was covered in tags and graffiti artists were asked to create a mural on top of it to promote 'beautiful art'. "What they're doing is doing their art and being passionate about it ... and beautifying this community" (Pohland, 2007) 

When we take all of the politics out of the whole controversy of graffiti, we can see that it really is an art form and one that should be celebrated and passed on through tradition and teachings. "When a cave is discovered with ancient drawings on the wall it isn't considered graffiti. It's considered artwork and a part of history. In reality, isn't that all graffiti in the 21st century is? People creating art and displaying our times history should not be considered a crime, but rejoiced." (Graves, 2007)

References

Ali, S. (2004) Graffiti- art or crime? Retrieved September 23, 2009 from http://www.shamsali.org/taj/2004/graffiti.html

Castleman, C. (1984) Getting up: subway graffiti in New York. Retrieved August 25, 2009 from http://books.google.co.nz/books 

Graves, T. (2007) Graffiti is not vandalism. Retrieved September  23, 2009 from http://media.www.deltacollegian.com/media/storage/paper320/news/2007/10/17/Voice/Graffiti.Is.Not.Vandalism-3038468.shtml

Ferrel, J. (1993) Crimes of style: urban graffiti and the politics of criminality. Retrieved August 25, 2009 from http://www.albany.edu/scj/jcjpc/vol3is4/style.html

Phillips, S. (1996) Graffiti definition: the dictionary of art. Retrieved August 25, 2009 from http://www.graffiti.org/faq/graf.def.html

Pogrebin, M. (2004) About criminals: a view of the offender’s world. Retrieved August 25, 2009 from http://books.google.co.nz/books 

Pohland, D. (2007) Neighborhood controversy, graffiti or art? Retrieved August 25, 2009 from http://wcco.com/topstories/graffiti.riverside.Market.2.364051.html

Prudent, J. (2009) Graffiti an expressive controversy. Retrieved August 23, 2009 from http://www.thepenn.org/2.3671/graffiti-an-expressive-controversy-1.432861