Durham takes a look at graffiti
What some see as art has more ominous connotations
to others in the Bull City
Raleigh News - Raleigh,NC,USA
DURHAM -- Bubble letters intertwine with jagged
lines to form a word abstracted beyond recognition near splatters of spray paint
that were either an accident or a future Jackson Pollock.
The entrance to the Arts Integrity building on Washington Street, bursting amid abandoned warehouses, instructs passers-by to "Honk if you think this is art." After lunchtime Wednesday, a minivan, station wagon and pickup truck sounded in agreement.
City officials aren't so sure. In the past fiscal year alone, Durham has spent roughly $28,000 removing 80 acts of graffiti throughout town, most of them gang-related.
Mitch Archer, who manages graffiti cleanup for Durham, ordered Arts Integrity to remove the graffiti last week, said Amanda Wilson, director of Arts Integrity. After Arts Integrity leaders threatened to sue and presented a letter from their landlord supporting the graffiti, Wilson said, Archer eased up and scheduled a meeting. Archer did not respond to requests for comment.
The information session Wednesday was attended by about 20 people, including downtown boosters, local artists and the chairman of Durham's Appearance Commission. Officials pledged to work with the arts community in drafting guidelines on graffiti that could regulate size and placement. But they admitted that it's a tricky proposition because qualifying graffiti as art depends on where it's located -- it can further erode neighborhoods in decline -- and whether the artist intends for it be destructive, creative or simply to mark territory.
"If the entire neighborhood were cleaned up, this would easily in my opinion be urban art," said Bill Kalkhof, president of Downtown Durham Inc.
Graffiti as a vehicle of free speech has long been accepted at local universities, from the Duke University railroad bridge near East Campus to N.C. State University's Free Expression Tunnel.
Local ordinances targeting graffiti are common across the country, said city solid waste director Alfred Davis, but Triangle-area communities historically have lumped most graffiti with vandalism. In Cary, property owners can paint murals and graffiti on their buildings with prior approval from local planning staff.
The city of Charlotte, by contrast, has commissioned a "graffiti hurts hot line" and teamed up with police in the "It's not art: It's a crime campaign." Charlotte's 1998 ordinance mandates that property owners pay to remove vandalism or face up to a $100 fine. The rules don't apply to intentional graffiti on private buildings that flourishes in the city's arts districts, said Michael Sullivan, a Charlotte graffiti inspector. But Sullivan cautioned against calling graffiti art.
"If I don't want something on my property, it's vandalism," he said. "Whether it's da Vinci or just a hood."
Jennifer Boyer, a law student who lives three blocks from the Arts Integrity building in Old North Durham, worried about the community's image.
"Your average person doesn't know that it's not gang graffiti," said Boyer, who did not attend the meeting.
To cut down on outlaw graffiti, Wilson -- wearing footless paisley hose with what appeared to be carabiners dangling from her lobes -- urged the city Wednesday to provide more public spaces for children to express themselves. Since the effort began in May, Arts Integrity has had to paint over one gang symbol and one obscenity-laced rant; artists are barred from using nudity or painting on the building's brick face.
Others at the meeting said it was unfair to single out graffiti, which along with music and the spoken word, is a way for the hip-hop generation to make a loud statement.
"To the people in that community, this artwork is a symbol of hope," said Marc Lee, a downtown resident.