Graffiti Under Fire in Denver, But Is It Art?
Tough Question: Can You Really Call Graffiti Art?
By CBS4 producer Libby Smith


Alan Gionet
Reporting

(CBS4) DENVER Mayor John Hickenlooper held a summit on graffiti Wednesday morning that brought together all representatives of the issue including elected officials, property owners, and self-described graffiti artists. While the city spends more than $1 million a year to clean it up, some think that graffiti is art. That prompted CBS4 to ask the Tough Question: Can you really call graffiti 'art'?

Star Kelly, a participant in the summit, has had his share of exposure to graffiti. He told CBS4 that "taggers" hit 25-feet of his property with roller paint.

"They want glorification," Kelly said. "They want to be seen. They want to be noticed."

CBS4's Alan Gionet asked him if there was such a thing as graffiti art.

"There is, there is," Kelly replied. "It's acceptable by permission."

He added that most taggers don't get permission and when they're caught and convicted, many end up cleaning it up with anti-graffiti crews.

Gionet asked a teen on a clean-up crew if he thought there's an argument that graffiti is art.

He said, "I don't know. Some people consider it an art, some just do it to do it. I don't know."

Rocky Gallegos was once a "tagger" but now calls himself a muralist.

He does large scale graffiti paintings for hire and also took part in Wednesday's graffiti summit with perspectives from both sides.

He says he doesn't regret doing graffiti in his past and sees it as a life lesson.

"If you see a kid drawing and scribbling on their notebook, give them a surface to paint on," Gallegos said.

At a tattoo and piercing parlor on East Colfax, they commissioned a work on the side of their building but just a few feet away is the work of an unpaid "artist".

The line between what's wanted and what's not is clear.