1. Protect and make "permitted" art a priority: All Graffiti from murals should be removed within 24 hours.
As I posted a while back this is a good idea with a flawed mechanism, put in place last summer by Mayor Villaraigosa. I'd be curious to learn how well it's being implemented.
Meanwhile you're absolutely right about protecting murals - the problem is, it's a lot more finicky correcting spraybombed brush strokes than just hauling out the rollerpan full of cement-colored paint and erasing yet another 12-year-old's proud LOCO .XIII. tag.
SPARC does a good job of raising money and working to protect murals, but they can only do so much: Have you seen the "future LA" mural on the 10 or the L.A. marathon mural yet? They're almost completely obliterated by a new crop of "art" - huge, multilayered, multicolored pieces by graff artists who actually take some pride and time in their work.
Listen, even if we draw a line in "permitting" wall art, it's gonna have little effect on some of these guys. Used to be murals were somewhat protected by taggers' respect, and authors of the bigger pieces would never dream of writing over a decent mural. Not so much any more, from what I'm seeing.
2. Target the most visible areas with rapid-response graffiti removal: this would include freeway under/over-crossings, off/on-ramps, freeway & City signs, public walls, and areas on major, heavily traveled corridors. The gateways to communities are also a high priority area to keep clean.
I'll buy that. It seems to work in most cases. Taggers stop bothering so much with spots that get wiped fast.
3. Hold private property owners accountable and to the same standard as the government. This would require the government to set the example.
Nice idea, thoroughly impractical, considering the cost of supporting a law designed to make private individuals responsible for controlling something as relentless as the weather. I just don't see the City Attorney's office and the code enforcement types ever getting the funding, let alone the time to handle it.
4. Enact a coordinated effort with all government agencies to adopt the priorities for graffiti removal. One was once formed and acted as a unified front to the issue as a regional on via "The Multi-Agency Graffiti Intervention Committee" or MAGIC. It was comprised of Caltrans, L.A. County, the County Sheriff's Dept, the Metropolitan Transportation Agency, the Los Angeles Police Dept, and Operation Clean Sweep (now the Office of Community Beautification) out of Public Works among other agencies and jurisdictions in the county. The committee used to meet monthly to share information regarding graffiti vandalism and find ways to work cooperatively to address these issues. The committee has no record of meeting since November of 2005.(I've sent an email to the coordinator to see what's become of the program - I'll keep you posted.)
Interesting. I'll be curious what you hear. Sounds like it could keep the ugliest stuff at bay.
5. Create acceptable spaces for Street Art to be practiced, produced, & displayed. It doesn't have to be regulated; just allocate space that's OK to paint and repaint. If it was known that the art would be removed every Monday morning with a fresh slate, people could practice their craft (somewhat like knowing that flowers are removed every week from cemeteries, no matter when they were placed).
A less work-intensive version of this worked at Venice Beach before they tore down the community center - the city basically let people paint the walls however they wanted - but it did absolutely nothing to stop people from tagging everything else in sight around Venice, either.
Sure, it'd be nice to have "graffiti gardens" but - again - who's gonna pay the crews to get out and roller it every morning, and how's it gonna affect the culture at all?
LACityNerd, I think your points 2 and 4 hold the most potential, but like I say - graffiti's like a natural force - one that ebbs and flows with community reaction and youth boredom.
Attempts to control it usually result in more sweat than motion, and come and go with the political winds.
It's a commonly held belief (one I agree with) that common graffiti should be erased the minute it appears if you want to keep it from proliferating, and city councilfolk and mayoral candidates alike always drag it out at election time, thump their chests a bit once in power, and then move on to other issues, and the tag-surf creeps back up the concrete beach.
But there's another commonly held belief that one man's vandalism is another man's highest form of art.
So as a city, where are we really going with all this?
(Footnote: Ever the dedicated Angeleno - LACityNerd's suggesting we celebrate the 225th anniversary of L.A.'s founding in 225 ways. Today, here are numbers 26 to 35.)
Posted by: Mack_Reed on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 11:47 AM
