When the majority of people address street art and graffiti, they think of spray painted obscenities beneath highway overpasses and crude drawings on the side of the road. But street art is much more than vandalism; it often is a result of a highly thought-out idea and an underdog’s sense of style. While many of us cannot even decipher the letters brightly splattered on the side of the freeway, graffiti—when it is modest and artistic—should be valued and accepted as a popular art form in our society.
In late April, a group of street artists dressed up as construction workers and put up a mosaic portraying Virgin de Guadalupe surfing with the words “Save the Ocean” underneath a train tunnel in Encinitas. This was regarded by the assistant city manager as fitting “the definition of graffiti” (nctimes.com). Although the city is eager to remove this piece of art, many residents urge them to reconsider and allow it to stay. The city is attempting to safely remove it and place in it a privately owned area where it can still be enjoyed (latimes.com). However, Art Store Owner Jack Quick stated, “In my professional opinion, it can’t be removed in one piece or even multiple usable pieces.”
In this case, the so-called graffiti is not destructive, nor is it advocating any illegal or immoral actions. In reality, the mosaic has a message very pertinent to the city of Encinitas. It is merely urging people to “Save the Ocean” and think more about their environment. The nature of the graffiti and the reaction of the residents should have some weight in the city’s decision. As this is a beautiful piece of art, with a meaningful message, the city should be able to allow amnesty.
Street art is a fairly new-age movement and, just Dadaism in the 1910s, is not very welcome or appreciated in the modern world. The majority of people view it as mere vandalism and do not see the viable creativity behind it. If we as a society can appreciate Jackson Pollack’s splattering of paint on a canvas, why can our open-mindedness not reach out to the intricate, time-consuming art that we disregard as graffiti? Instead of shunning street art, cities should learn to embrace it and encourage graffiti artists to find their place in the art world as opposed to vandalizing buildings. In June 2010, the Downtown San Diego Museum of Art held a show centered on famous graffiti artists such as Banksy and Exist. This exhibit, called Viva la Revolucion, was not only confined to the museum, but was spread out through Downtown. The artists featured in the show were allowed to put up murals of their work throughout the city, opening up their art to the general population. If more cities were as open-minded as San Diego, we could see street art move toward a whole new era of recognition.
It is useless to try and stop graffiti artists from showcasing their artwork, as many still will. There are whole underground operations dedicated to it, as seen in Encinitas. If societies learn to embrace graffiti and find a place for it in their cities, this street art movement can move to a whole new level—without the illegal vandalism attached. While the renowned Space Invader artist might not have any visible artistic value, it does have the power to bring people together in their search for these graffiti video game characters. Street art appeals to the youth and that signifies a worldwide message that we should be looking to the future when it comes to creativity and innovation.