Friday, March 11, 2011
MuralsDC Seeks Commercial Properties For Art
As part of a special partnership between the D.C. Commission on Arts and Humanities and the Department of Public Works MuralsDC identifies local artists and youth willing to remake a graffiti marked space into public art. Commercial property/business owners, are not charged for the murals. This is an excellent opportunity, and one that local businesses should consider. Funding for a particular mural would typically fall between $3-5k, but it depends on many factors, including the size of the space. Applications must be postmarked by April 15th. [Via DCist]
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
13 comments:
I know this is slightly off topic, but can someone explain the artistic merit behind graffiti displaying a persons 'name'?
I get (and really enjoy) the murals/pictures/etc, but do not get the writing of someones name on walls everywhere (aside from the occasionally very difficult location (example Borf on the TR bridge - http://www.flickr.com/photos/ohadby/26183992/)).
I mean this question honestly, it could be that I am just a philistine when it comes to this...
It's called tagging. Depending on who is doing it and where, the reasons vary. It can be as simple as bravado (been there, done that) calling out to other artists. A lot of gangs also tag repeatedly, so there's that motivation too.
Property owner are "charged" for this - with their taxes, that will soon be raised because the city is operating at a deficit.
If the city has money to spend on murals and public art, why don't they put it into maintaining the things they have like the Hopscotch Bridge which is rusted and crumbling. The small mosaics are chipped and broken. Soon H Street's going to look really good and this is a terrible gateway to the corridor.
Ess is right. I believe a lot of this started in NYC in the 70s and a lot of people started tagging subway cars as a way to express themselves and to go beyond the feeling of isolation and repression of urban poverty. It has since been co-opted by other groups of suburban middle-American kids who feel a similar sense of desolation and lack of identity/meaning. If you want to get a better understanding of graffiti culture, definitely check out the documentary "Bomb It" http://blog.bombit-themovie.com/bomb-it-about/
Try this:
http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Bomb_It/70069047?trkid=2361637#height1342
It is a very good movie that tells the story of how it is and got started. BTW it did not start in NYC.
Here is another one for you:
http://www.bombit-themovie.com/
I always wanted to spray paint BORF mom's house in Vienna, Va to express my disgust of seeing his name every where in DC. I never understood why he couldn't just pee on everything like some other guys do.
Complicated, but to me, if all you do is write your tag name you might as well just have peed on the space. It isn't art, and never will be art. The difference is that rain won't wash your paint/scraping away.
@Derek Where did it start? I would have presumed NYC as well.
But if it pisses someone off, it must be art, no?
Nope. Just damage to someone else's property.
soooo...after the murals are painted how do you stop graffiti from being painted on top of the them? is this magic paint? did they get it from the same guy sold jack his beanstalk beans?
If you consult the local graffiti culture and include them, murals tend not to get tagged up... this is true of every city I've been to
Golden rule of 'graffiti artists' should be that if it would piss off your Mom if you did it to her house, you shouldn't do it to other people's property without their permission.
I do think some graffiti is pretty astounding, but the bottom line remains that it's defacing someone else's property without permission.
Post a Comment