A new form of graffiti has joined the traditional free-style spray paint on the concrete sidewalks and brick walls of downtown Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan, and area business have been quick to combat it.
"Stencil graffiti," a type of graffiti created by spraying paint through a cut-out stencil, has been spotted throughout the United States, including in New York City, Los Angeles and Detroit, and became increasingly common in Ann Arbor last year. The graffiti is not gang-related and spreads poetic and political - including antiwar - messages through words and pictures.
Mara Kaufman, a visiting University of Michigan summer student from Phoenix, said she appreciates the work, but not the method. "I think it's good that they raise political awareness, but I don't think it's good to deface the campus. ... Perhaps they could use something less permanent," she said.
Diane L. Brown, a spokeswoman for facilities and operations at the University of Michigan, echoed Kaufman's concerns about destruction of property. She said the university does not touch messages written in chalk on the campus sidewalks, but considers anything drawn in paint or marker to be destructive and has it removed.
Many area businesses that have been fighting traditional graffiti for years are also taking an aggressive approach to stencil graffiti.
"I have a huge bucket of gray paint in my office," said Maggie Ladd, the executive director of the South University Area Association. "If we see graffiti we immediately paint over it and then give a little can of paint and a paint brush to the businesses that are having problems."
Ladd and other area merchant associations are also implementing a creative, long-term approach toward decreasing the occurrence of unwanted graffiti. They're painting colorful murals with positive messages on large walls. Because graffiti artists want a clean surface on which to display their work, murals help to make large building walls less appealing to people with spray cans.
A mural painted a few years ago in the alley next to the Michigan Theater building on Liberty Street remained mostly graffiti-free for almost three years, but has recently been "tagged" with spray paint.
"It's too bad that the mural wall has been tagged as much as it has," said Arthur McViccar, the facility director for the Michigan Theater. As soon as he spots new graffiti, McViccar tries to paint over it, in an attempt to deter graffiti artists who want their work on display for longer than a few days.
After painting, the building "stays clean for three to four weeks," McViccar said. "I feel like we're winning that war." A line of stencils that appeared last summer on the sidewalk in front of the alley have proven more difficult to remove and may eventually require sandblasting.
However, some residents do not want to see the graffiti removed and worry about what could replace it.
"Seeing the amazing stuff people do is really interesting. ... I'd rather see graffiti than advertisements," said Forest Juziuk, a regional graffiti photographer, who noted that efforts to decrease graffiti in New York City resulted in plastering posters on city walls.
But Ann Arbor police Sgt. Richard Kinsey said that although some of the graffiti may appeal to residents, it is illegal and can cost the graffiti painters both time and money to clean it up.
Police often get calls from angry business owners when their buildings are the victims of repeated paint attacks.
"When it's on their buildings they're mad," Kinsey said. "Nobody really complains about sidewalks."
A stencil message painted on the sidewalk near the Dawn Treader Bookshop didn't immediately attract the attention of manager Corby Gillmore until someone came into the store looking for a dictionary.
"I only noticed it because someone asked for the definition of versificator," one of the words in the message, he said. Gillmore said that he would not be removing the graffiti since it is down the street from the store, but that it would not please him if it appeared right outside the bookshop door.
Contact Allison Heinrichs at aheinrichs@annarbornews.com or (734) 994-6937.