Learning Objective:Through sketching, to develop ideas

for improving a public space with

street art.

Graffiti has gradually become

more widely recognised as an

art form.

Today, there are spaces where people can make graffiti art legally

in many cities.

Some property owners pay graffiti artists to decorate their buildings. People travel to see areas in cities which are now famous

for their street art.

How did graffiti and street art come to be

admired, appreciated and

accepted by some? Let’s find out...

By http://www.flickr.com/people/sweet_child_of_mine/ - http://www.Flickr.com/photos/sweet_child_of_mine/455752009/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5620892

By JJ & Special K - http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweet_child_of_mine/452755941/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1936600

The historyof graffiti:

New York City

Rival taggers sprayed their ‘throwies’ on the sides of subway trains. It was very dangerous, and illegal. During the 1980s, the city authorities cracked down on this, cleaning and replacing

trains, and arresting people who vandalised. Gradually, subway graffiti disappeared. But the taggers didn’t stop. . .

They moved to the streets of New York City, where (at the time), the authorities did not spend much time or money preventing

graffiti. Taggers competed with each other, trying to make their own art work bigger, more detailed, more beautiful. The art work began to include images as well as, or instead of, text.

Some shop owners liked the graffiti on the shutters of their shops, so they kept it! More people were seeing graffiti in the places where they lived and worked. Some people liked what they saw.

Authorities in New York City and other

cities decided to designate spaces

where graffiti was allowed, to

discourage it elsewhere. These spaces became popular with

tourists and other visitors.

Street artists create works of art in unusual spaces. They do not always have

neat, rectangular spaces like canvasses to work on. The spaces where they work may have uneven surfaces or things attached

to them, like wires or pipes.

Today, property owners or city authorities may commission street artists to improve a space or an

area by creating works of art in/on it.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/56278705@N05/

© Copyright George Evans, http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1248176

© Copyright Chris Downer, http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2838817

Not all street artists work exclusively with paint! Look at the unusual methods and materials

used in these works of art:

Jan Vormann uses plastic toy bricks to ‘repair’

cracks in walls!

flickr.com/photos/arnehendriks/

flickr.com/photos/arnehendriks/

By Alvaro León - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18541295

© Copyright Rob Farrow, http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4551887

This is ‘guerrilla crochet’, or ‘yarn bombing’, where artists knit or

crochet decorations around everyday objects in the street!

French artist ‘invader’ uses ceramic mosaic tiles to decorate tiny spaces in cities. You have to look

closely to spot them!https://www.flickr.com/photos/

10295270@N05/By Edward Betts - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14751483

Why do you think graffiti and

other forms of street art are chosen to decorate

public spaces?

Do you think it has improved the spaces we

have looked at?

It’s a quick and inexpensive way to brighten up a neglected space.

Why choose graffiti art to change a space?

It can discourage illegal, unwanted graffiti.

Street artists are good at finding creative ways to improve unusually-shaped spaces!

It’s eye-catching: people stop to look, or come to visit an area to see street art.

PlenaryPeople have

always tried to improve public spaces

with art. Many villages, towns and cities have art on the streets, often in the form of sculptures,

fountains or murals.

What public art do you have in your local area?

Do you think it improves the area?