Graffiti in the United States - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....

in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

has had an international influence especially from the examples in the New York City Subway

New York City Subway

The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and also known as MTA New York City Transit...

and the Chicana/Chicano

Chicano

The terms "Chicano" and "Chicana" are used in reference to U.S. citizens of Mexican descent. However, those terms have a wide range of meanings in various parts of the world. The term began to be widely used during the Chicano Movement, mainly among Mexican Americans, especially in the movement's...

experience.

History

In America around the late 1960s, graffiti was used as a form of expression by political activists, and also by gangs such as the Savage Skulls, La Familia, and Savage Nomads to mark territory. Towards the end of the 1960s, the signatures—tags—of Philadelphia

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

graffiti writers Cornbread

Cornbread (graffiti)

Darryl McCray, referred to as "Cornbread", is a graffiti artist from Philadelphia, USA. Starting in 1967, he is regarded as "father of modern graffiti". He is also known for writing his name on an elephant at the Philadelphia Zoo and on the side of the Jackson 5's private jet...

, Cool Earl and Topcat 126 started to appear. Cornbread is often cited as one of the earliest writer of modern graffiti. Around 1970–71, the centre of graffiti innovation moved to New York City where writers following in the wake of TAKI 183

TAKI 183

TAKI 183 was one of the most influential graffiti writers in its history. His "tag" was short for Demetaki, a Greek alternative for his birth-name Demetrius, and the number 183 came from his address on 183rd Street in Washington Heights...

and Tracy 168

Tracy 168

TRACY 168 . He is a well known 'Oldschool writer' from New York. He is known as one of the kings of graffiti and started the 'Wildstyle' style of graffiti. In July 2006, an art piece by Tracy 168 in 1984 utilized a real subway car door and showcased his piece on it...

would add their street number to their nickname, "bomb" a train with their work, and let the subway take it—and their fame, if it was impressive, or simply pervasive, enough—"all city". Bubble lettering held sway initially among writers from the Bronx

The Bronx

The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...

, though the elaborate writing Tracy 168 dubbed "wildstyle

Wildstyle

Wildstyle is a complicated and intricate form of graffiti. Due to its complexity, it is often very hard to read by people who are not familiar with it. Usually, this form of graffiti incorporates interwoven and overlapping letters and shapes. It may include arrows, spikes, and other decorative...

" would come to define the art. The early trendsetters were joined in the 70s by artists like Dondi

Dondi (artist)

Donald Joseph White, "DONDI" is considered one of the most influential graffiti artists in the history of the movement.-Early life:...

, Zephyr

Zephyr (graffiti artist)

ZEPHYR, born Andrew Witten, is a graffiti artist, lecturer and author from New York City. He began creating graffiti in 1975 and first signed using the name "Zephyr" in 1977...

and Lady Pink

Lady Pink

Lady Pink is a graffiti artist. She was raised in Queens, New York, and started her graffiti writing career in 1979 following the loss of a boyfriend who had been sent to live in Puerto Rico after he had been arrested. She exorcised her grief by tagging her boyfriend's name across the city...

.

Graffiti is one of the four main elements of hip hop culture (along with rapping

Rapping

Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...

, DJing, and break dancing). The relationship between graffiti and hip hop culture arises both from early graffiti artists practicing other aspects of hip hop, and its being practiced in areas where other elements of hip hop were evolving as art forms. By the mid-eighties, the form would move from the street to the art world. Jean-Michel Basquiat

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American artist. His career in art began as a graffiti artist in New York City in the late 1970s, and in the 1980s produced Neo-expressionist painting.-Early life:...

would abandon his SAMO

SAMO© Graffiti

SAMO© Graffiti appeared in New York City from 1977 to early 1980. They were short phrases, in turns poetic and sarcastic, mainly painted on the streets of downtown Manhattan. The tag SAMO© has been primarily associated with the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, but was developed mainly as a...

tag for art galleries, and even street art

Street art

Street art is any art developed in public spaces — that is, "in the streets" — though the term usually refers to unsanctioned art, as opposed to government sponsored initiatives...

's connections to hip hop would loosen. Occasional hip hop paeans to graffiti could still be heard throughout the nineties, however, in tracks like the Artifacts

Artifacts (group)

Artifacts is a hip hop group consisting of El Da Sensei, Tame One and DJ Kaos. They hail from Newark, New Jersey and made underground music that paid homage to the four elements of hip hop...

' "Wrong Side of Da Tracks", Qwel

Qwel

Adam Vincent Schreiber , better known by his stage name Qwel, is an underground rapper, originally from Chicago, Illinois. Qwel is also the co-founder of an underground rap crew called Typical Cats, with MC's Denizen Kane, and Qwazaar. Qwel has been featured on interviews and performances on...

's Brick Walls and Aesop Rock

Aesop Rock

Ian Matthias Bavitz , better known by his stage name Aesop Rock, is an American hip hop artist and producer. He was at the forefront of the new wave of underground and alternative hip hop acts that emerged during the late 1990s and early 2000s. He was signed to El-P's Definitive Jux label until it...

's "No Jumper Cables".

Origins

Early modernist graffiti can be dated back to box cars in the early 1920s yet the graffiti movement seen in today's contemporary world really originated through the minds of political activists and gang members of the 1960s. The "pioneering era" of graffiti took place during the years 1969 through 1974. This time period was a time of change in popularity and style. New York City became the new hub (formerly Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

) of graffiti tags and images. Graffiti artists during this time period sought to put as many markings up as possible around the city. This was the ultimate goal of exposure

Publicity

Publicity is the deliberate attempt to manage the public's perception of a subject. The subjects of publicity include people , goods and services, organizations of all kinds, and works of art or entertainment.From a marketing perspective, publicity is one component of promotion which is one...

. Soon after the migration from Philadelphia to NYC, the city produced one of the first graffiti artists to gain media attention in New York, TAKI 183

TAKI 183

. TAKI 183 was a youth from Washington Heights, Manhattan

Washington Heights, Manhattan

Washington Heights is a New York City neighborhood in the northern reaches of the borough of Manhattan. It is named for Fort Washington, a fortification constructed at the highest point on Manhattan island by Continental Army troops during the American Revolutionary War, to defend the area from the...

who worked as a foot messenger. His tag is a mixture of his name Demetrius (Demetraki), TAKI, and his street number, 183rd. Being a foot messenger, he was constantly on the subway and began to put up his tags along his travels. This spawned a 1971 article in the New York Times titled "'Taki 183' Spawns Pen Pals". Julio 204

Julio 204

JULIO 204 was one of the first graffiti writers in New York City.Julio was a Puerto Rican who lived on 204th street and was a member of the "Savage Skulls" gang. He started writing his nickname in his neighborhood as early as 1968. His tags were never seen by Taki 183, who took the form directly...

is also credited as an early writer, though not recognized at the time outside of the graffiti subculture. Other notable names from that time are: Stay High 149

Stay High 149 (graffiti artist)

Stay High 149 is an African-American graffiti artist. He was called a "superstar" of the graffiti world in the late 1970s. Widely considered to use one of the most famous graffiti tags in the world, his trademark includes a smoking version of the stick figure from the 1960's British television...

, PHASE 2

PHASE 2

PHASE 2 is one of the most influential and well known New York City aerosol artist. Mostly active in the 1970s, Phase 2 is generally credited with originating the "bubble letter" style of aerosol writing, also known as "softies"...

, Stitch 1, Joe 182, Junior 161 and Cay 161. Barbara 62 and Eva 62 were also important early graffiti artists in New York, and are the first women to become known for writing graffiti.

Also taking place during this era was the movement from outside on the city streets to the subways. Graffiti also saw its first seeds of competition around this time. The goal of most artists at this point was "getting up": having as many tags and bombs in as many places as possible. Artists began to break into subway yards in order to hit as many trains as they could with a lower risk, often creating larger elaborate pieces of art along the subway car sides. This is when the act of bombing was said to be officially established.

By 1971 tags began to take on their signature calligraphic

Calligraphy

Calligraphy is a type of visual art. It is often called the art of fancy lettering . A contemporary definition of calligraphic practice is "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner"...

appearance because, due to the huge number of artists, each graffiti artist needed a way to distinguish themselves. Aside from the growing complexity and creativity, tags also began to grow in size and scale – for example, many artists had begun to increase letter size and line thickness, as well as outlining their tags. This gave birth to the so-called 'masterpiece' or 'piece' in 1972. Super Kool 223 is credited as being the first to do these pieces.

The use of designs such as polka dots, crosshatches, and checkers became increasingly popular. Spray paint use increased dramatically around this time as artists began to expand their work. "Top-to-bottoms", works which span the entire height of a subway car, made their first appearance around this time as well. The overall creativity and artistic maturation of this time period did not go unnoticed by the mainstream – Hugo Martinez founded the United Graffiti Artists (UGA) in 1972. UGA consisted of many top graffiti artists of the time, and aimed to present graffiti in an art gallery setting. By 1974, graffiti artists had begun to incorporate the use of scenery and cartoon characters into their work. TF5 (The Fabulous Five), was a crew which was known for their elaborately designed whole cars.

Mid–1970s

By the mid 1970s time, most standards had been set in graffiti writing and culture. The heaviest "bombing" in U.S. history took place in this period, partially because of the economic restraints on New York City, which limited its ability to combat this art form with graffiti removal programs or transit maintenance. Also during this time, "top-to-bottoms" evolved to take up entire subway cars. Most note-worthy of this era proved to be the forming of the "throw-up", which are more complex than simple "tagging," but not as intricate as a "piece". Not long after their introduction, throw-ups led to races to see who could do the largest number of throw-ups in the least amount of time.

Graffiti writing was becoming very competitive and artists strove to go "all-city," or to have their names seen in all five boroughs of NYC. Eventually, the standards which had been set in the early 70s began to become stagnant. These changes in attitude led many artists into the 1980s with a desire to expand and change.

The late 1970s and early 1980s brought a new wave of creativity to the scene. As the influence of graffiti grew beyond the Bronx, a graffiti movement began with the encouragement of Friendly Freddie. Fab 5 Freddy (Fred Brathwaite) is another popular graffiti figure of this time, who started in a Brooklyn "wall-writing group." He notes how differences in spray technique and letters between Upper Manhattan and Brooklyn began to merge in the late 70s: "out of that came 'Wild Style'." Fab 5 Freddy is often credited with helping to spread the influence of graffiti and rap

Hip hop music

Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

music beyond its early foundations in the Bronx

The Bronx

The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...

, and making links the mostly white downtown art and music scenes. It was around this time that the established art world started becoming receptive to the graffiti culture for the first time since Hugo Martinez's Razor Gallery in the early 1970s.

It was also, however, the last wave of true bombing before the Transit Authority made graffiti eradication a priority. The MTA (Metro Transit Authority)

Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York)

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the U.S...

began to repair yard fences, and remove graffiti consistently, battling the surge of graffiti artists. With the MTA combating the artists by removing their work it often led many artists to quit in frustration, as their work was constantly being removed.

New York City decline

Just as the culture was spreading outside New York and overseas, the cultural aspect of graffiti in New York was said to be deteriorating almost to the point of extinction. The rapid decline in writing was due to several factors. The streets became more dangerous due to the burgeoning crack epidemic

Crack Epidemic

The United States crack epidemic refers to the surge of crack houses and crack cocaine use in major cities in the United States between 1984 and 1990...

, legislation was underway to make penalties for graffiti artists more severe, and restrictions on paint sale and display made racking (stealing) materials difficult. Above all, the MTA greatly increased their anti-graffiti budget. Many favoured painting sites became heavily guarded, yards were patrolled, newer and better fences were erected, and buffing of pieces was strong, heavy, and consistent. As a result of subways being harder to paint, more writers went into the streets, which is now, along with commuter trains and box cars, the most prevalent form of writing.

Many graffiti artists, however, chose to see the new problems as a challenge rather than a reason to quit. A downside to these challenges was that the artists became very territorial of good writing spots, and strength and unity in numbers became increasingly important. Some of the mentionable graffiti artists from this era were Blade, Dondi

Dondi (artist)

Donald Joseph White, "DONDI" is considered one of the most influential graffiti artists in the history of the movement.-Early life:...

, Min 1, Quik, Seen and Skeme. This was stated to be the end for the casual NYC subway graffiti artists, and the years to follow would be populated by only what some consider the most "die hard" artists. People often found that making graffiti around their local areas was an easy way to get caught so they traveled to different areas.

New York 1985–1989

The years between 1985 and 1989 became known as the "die hard" era. A last shot for the graffiti artists of this time was in the form of subway cars destined for the scrap yard. With the increased security, the culture had taken a step back. The previous elaborate "burners" on the outside of cars were now marred with simplistic marker tags which often soaked through the paint.

By mid-1986 the MTA and the CTA

Chicago Transit Authority

Chicago Transit Authority, also known as CTA, is the operator of mass transit within the City of Chicago, Illinois and some of its surrounding suburbs....

were winning their "war on graffiti," and the population of active graffiti artists diminished. As the population of artists lowered so did the violence associated with graffiti crews and "bombing." Roof tops also were being the new billboards for some '80s writers. Some notable graffiti artists of this era were Cope2

Cope2

Fernando Carlo is a graffiti artist from the South Bronx, New York. He has been writing graffiti since 1978-79, and has gained international credit for his work. Though he is now known worldwide, he didn't receive recognition in the mainstream graffiti world until the mid-1990s.Cope2's cousin...

, Claw Money

Claw Money

Claw Money is a New York-based graffiti writer turned fashion designer and author.Claw Money, whose first name is Claudia, was born into a Jewish family in Fresh Meadows, Queens and Roslyn, New York and attended the Fashion Institute of Technology until she dropped out in 1986.Through the late...

, Sane Smith, Zephyr

Zephyr (graffiti artist)

ZEPHYR, born Andrew Witten, is a graffiti artist, lecturer and author from New York City. He began creating graffiti in 1975 and first signed using the name "Zephyr" in 1977...

and T Kid.

New York Clean Train Movement era

The current era in graffiti is characterized by a majority of graffiti artists moving from subway or train cars to "street galleries." The Clean Train Movement started in May, 1989, when New York attempted to remove all of the subway cars found with graffiti on them out of the transit system. Because of this, many graffiti artists were unable to continue vandalizing them. Much controversy arose among the streets debating whether graffiti should be considered an actual form of art.

Prior to the Clean Train Movement, the streets were largely left untouched not only in New York, but in other major American cities as well. After the transit company began diligently cleaning their trains, graffiti burst onto the streets of America to an un-expecting un-appreciative public.

City officials elsewhere in the country smugly assumed that gang graffiti were a blight limited largely to the Big Apple

No more. The stylised smears born in the South Bronx have spread across the country, covering buildings, bridges and highways in every urban center. From Philadelphia to Santa Barbara, Calif., the annual costs of cleaning up after the underground artists are soaring into the billions.

During this period many graffiti artists had taken to displaying their works in galleries and owning their own studios. This practice started in the early 1980s with artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American artist. His career in art began as a graffiti artist in New York City in the late 1970s, and in the 1980s produced Neo-expressionist painting.-Early life:...

, who started out tagging locations with his signature SAMO (Same Old Shit), and Keith Haring

Keith Haring

Keith Haring was an artist and social activist whose work responded to the New York City street culture of the 1980s.-Early life:...

, who was also able to take his art into studio spaces.

In some cases, graffiti artists had achieved such elaborate graffiti (especially those done in memory of a deceased person) on storefront gates that shopkeepers have hesitated to cover them up. In the Bronx

The Bronx

The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...

after the death of rapper

Rapping

Big Pun

Christopher Lee Rios , better known by his stage name Big Pun , was an American rapper who emerged from the underground rap scene in The Bronx in the late 1990s...

, several murals dedicated to his life done by BG183, Bio, Nicer TATS CRU

TATS CRU

TATS CRU, Inc. is a group of Bronx-based graffiti artists turned professional muralists. The members of TATS CRU are Bio, BG183, Nicer, HOW, and NOSM....

appeared virtually overnight; similar outpourings occurred after the deaths of The Notorious B.I.G.

The Notorious B.I.G.

Christopher George Latore Wallace , best known as The Notorious B.I.G., was an American rapper. He was also known as Biggie Smalls , Big Poppa, and The Black Frank White .Wallace was raised in the Brooklyn borough...

, Tupac Shakur

Tupac Shakur

Tupac Amaru Shakur , known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide as of 2007, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world...

, Big L

Big L

Big L may refer to:* Lamont Coleman , better know by Big L, American hip-hop artist.Or a number of British radio stations:*Big L 1395, a British radio station.*Radio Luxembourg's English-language progammes ....

, and Jam Master Jay.

Government response

Graffiti advocates perceive graffiti as a method of reclaiming public space or displaying an art form; their opponents regard it as an unwanted nuisance, or as expensive vandalism

Vandalism

Vandalism is the behaviour attributed originally to the Vandals, by the Romans, in respect of culture: ruthless destruction or spoiling of anything beautiful or venerable...

requiring repair of the vandalized property. Graffiti can be viewed as a "quality of life

Quality of life

The term quality of life is used to evaluate the general well-being of individuals and societies. The term is used in a wide range of contexts, including the fields of international development, healthcare, and politics. Quality of life should not be confused with the concept of standard of...

" issue, and its detractors suggest that the presence of graffiti contributes to a general sense of squalor and a heightened fear of crime. Graffiti has a strong negative influence on property values and lowers the tax base, reducing the available funding for municipal services, such as schools, fire protection, and sanitation. This feedback loop can trigger urban decay

Urban decay

Urban decay is the process whereby a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude...

.

In 1984, the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network

Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network

The Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network was founded in January 1984 by former Philadelphia Mayor Wilson Goode. The original goal of the program was to combat the spread of graffiti in the Philadelphia area and was led by Tim Spencer. In 1986 another program began within PAGN, named The Mural Arts...

(PAGN) was created to combat the city's growing concerns about gang-related graffiti. PAGN led to the creation of the Mural Arts Program

Mural Arts Program

Philadelphia's Mural Arts Program was founded in 1984, as a sub division of the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network , led by Jane Golden. Prior to the Mural Arts Program operating as its own entity its roots were founded in a meeting between Spencer and Golden in 1984 where Golden asked to run a...

, which replaced often-hit spots with elaborate, commissioned murals that were protected by a city ordinance, with fines and penalties for anyone caught defacing them.

The Philadelphia subway line also features a long-standing example of the art form at the Broad and Spring Garden stop, along the Broad & Ridge (to 8th and Market) line. While still existing, it has long been quarantined and features tags and murals that have existed for upwards of 15 years.

Advocates of the "broken window theory

Fixing Broken Windows

The broken windows theory is a criminological theory of the norm setting and signaling effect of urban disorder and vandalism on additional crime and anti-social behavior...

" believe that this sense of decay encourages further vandalism and promotes an environment leading to offenses that are more serious. Former New York City mayor Ed Koch

Ed Koch

Edward Irving "Ed" Koch is an American lawyer, politician, and political commentator. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and three terms as mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989...

's vigorous subscription to the broken window theory promoted an aggressive anti-graffiti campaign in New York in the early 1980s, resulting in "the "; a chemical wash for trains that dissolved the paint. New York City has adopted a strenuous zero tolerance policy ever since. However, throughout the world, authorities often treat graffiti as a minor-nuisance crime, though with widely varying penalties. In New York City rooftops became the mainstream graffiti location after trains died out.

In 1995 Mayor Rudolph Giuliani of New York set up the Anti-Graffiti Task Force, a multi-agency initiative to combat the perceived problem of graffiti vandals in New York City. This began a crackdown on "quality of life crimes" throughout the city, and one of the largest anti-graffiti campaigns in U.S. history. That same year Title 10–117 of the New York Administrative Code banned the sale of aerosol spray-paint cans to children under 18. The law also requires that merchants who sell spray paint must either lock it in a case or display the cans behind a counter, out of reach of potential shoplifters. Violations of the city's anti-graffiti law carry fines of US$350 per incident. Famous NYC graffiti artist Zephyr

Zephyr (graffiti artist)

ZEPHYR, born Andrew Witten, is a graffiti artist, lecturer and author from New York City. He began creating graffiti in 1975 and first signed using the name "Zephyr" in 1977...

wrote a viewpoint opposing this law.

On January 1, 2006, in New York City, legislation created by Councilmember Peter Vallone, Jr.

Peter Vallone, Jr.

Peter F. Vallone Jr. is a member of the New York City Council representing the 22nd District, encompassing Astoria, Queens and the surrounding communities since 2002, succeeding his father, Peter Vallone, Sr....

attempted to make it illegal for a person under the age of 21 to possess spray paint or permanent markers. The law prompted outrage by fashion and media mogul Marc Ecko

Marc Ecko

Marc Eckō is an American fashion designer, entrepreneur, investor, artist, and philanthropist. He is the founder and Chief Creative Officer of Marc Eckō Enterprises, a billion-dollar global fashion and lifestyle company...

who sued Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Michael Bloomberg

Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...

and Councilmember Vallone on behalf of art students and "legitimate" graffiti artists. On May 1, 2006, Judge George B. Daniels granted the plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction against the recent amendments to the anti-graffiti legislation, effectively prohibiting (on May 4) the New York City Police Department from enforcing the restrictions. A similar measure was proposed in New Castle County, Delaware

New Castle County, Delaware

New Castle County is the northernmost of the three counties of the U.S. state of Delaware. As of 2010 its population was 538,479, an increase of 7.6% over the previous decade. The county seat is Wilmington. The center of population of Delaware is located in New Castle County, in the town of...

in April 2006 and passed into law as a county ordinance in May 2006.

Chicago's mayor, Richard M. Daley

Richard M. Daley

Richard Michael Daley is a United States politician, member of the national and local Democratic Party, and former Mayor of Chicago, Illinois. He was elected mayor in 1989 and reelected in 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, and 2007. He was the longest serving Chicago mayor, surpassing the tenure of his...

created the "Graffiti Blasters

Graffiti Blasters

Graffiti Blasters is a program to eliminate graffiti, street art and gang-related vandalism in Chicago, Illinois. The program is structured as a privately owned business based in the city government...

" to eliminate graffiti and gang-related vandalism. The bureau advertises free cleanup within 24 hours of a phone call. The bureau uses paints (compatible with the city's 'color scheme') and baking-soda-based solvents to remove some varieties of graffiti.

In 1992, an ordinance was passed in Chicago that bans the sale and possession of spray paint and certain types of etching equipment and markers. The law falls under Chapter 8-4: Public Peace & Welfare, Section 100: Vagrancy. The specific law (8-4-130) makes graffiti an offense with a fine of no less than US$500 per incident, surpassing the penalty for public drunkenness, peddling, or disrupting a religious service.

In 2005, the city of Pittsburgh implemented a customized database-driven graffiti tracking system to build and enhance evidence for prosecution of graffiti artist suspects by linking tags to instances of graffiti. One of the first suspects to be identified by the system as being responsible for significant graffiti vandalism was Daniel Joseph Montano. He was dubbed "The King of Graffiti" for having tagged close to 200 buildings in the city, and was later sentenced to 2.5 to 5 years in prison.

Rapid City, South Dakota

Rapid City, South Dakota

Rapid City is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of South Dakota, and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek on which the city is established, it is set against the eastern slope of the Black Hills mountain range. The population was 67,956 as of the 2010 Census. Rapid...

contains a section of the city known as Art Alley, a back alley in the downtown district between Main Street and Saint Joseph Street and stretching from 6th to 7th Street. It first began to form proper around 2005, and has expanded since. While graffiti is largely illegal in Rapid City and there are no ordinances condoning it, Art Alley his purposefully overlooked by law enforcement and clean up crews and relies on the community of artists and landowners to add and maintain the space. The alley become quite popular for tourists and has become a cultural center for the city.

External links

DEFACING AMERICA - The Rise of Graffiti Vandalism, Copyright 2011 by Julius Zsako

Radical Graffiti Chic, City Journal, Spring 2010
149st Writers Bench: Old School New York City Graffiti
The Fales Library Guide to the Martin Wong Papers- contains sketchbooks and ephemera related to Wild Style
Classic article on graffiti in Rolling Stone

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

History

Origins

Mid–1970s

New York City decline

New York 1985–1989

New York Clean Train Movement era

Government response

See also

External links