ART of graffiti management
Warrnambool Standard - Warrnambool,Australia
<http://the.standard.net.au/articles/2004/06/15/1087244889739.html>
ENCOURAGING public artwork in appropriate places will be part of a graffiti management strategy being put together for Warrnambool.
The strategy aims to reduce the amount of graffiti around the city and assist with its removal.
But the plan, which has been out for comment for the past several months, has failed to attract any public submissions, a council spokesperson said.
Mayor Glenys Phillpot said she had heard many suggestions over the years about types of public art that should be permitted around Warrnambool.
Brightening up a section of the breakwater with a mural was one idea. "There have been some people suggest the city centre laneways have
murals too," Cr Phillpot said. "There's a fine line between graffiti
and public art." She said not long ago a young artist was approached to paint a mural on a
wall near Flagstaff Hill that had been vandalised regularly during a long
period. Since the mural was finished it has not been touched. A wall at Warrnambool's hockey club had some artwork painted several years
ago but had since been targeted by graffiti artists, she said. Removal of illegal graffiti from properties across the city costs an
estimated $60,000 a year. Before the strategy went out for public comment, suggestions included
establishing a graffiti hotline for residents to dob in vandals; setting up a
community taskforce to clean it from city buildings; and selling special
graffiti cleaning kits to residents for a discounted price.