Graffiti is thought of as a petty crime but.....Graffiti vandals turn violent in LA...Message from vandals clear |
Toronto real estate lawyer Darlene Richards-Loghrin, locked in an ongoing battle with graffiti artists in East York, and with no help in sight from City Hall, asks local councillors to come to their senses in this open letter:
After being ordered by the city to remove the mural we had commissioned to protect our building from vandals, we painted it over.
The taggers came back, five times in three weeks. And they have been here again.
We painted over all of the graffiti that was there on July 22 and just a few days later (new graffiti) appeared ... Graffiti appeared on the wall at the IGA at the same time.
This defacing of a piece of art that was created at great expense and effort is unacceptable.
What is required on both sides of the debate between Councillor Sandra Bussin and these urban artists is more respect.
While the mural was on our wall eight months our building was not tagged once, not the wall, nor the front of the building. Everyone else on the street was hit during that time.
The message from these vandals is clear ...
If we invest in a mural that Ms. Bussin thinks is "more appropriate" or "afresh," we will not be safe and these taggings will continue. That is not a solution and I am not prepared to waste money (neither mine, nor the taxpayers').
Given that the city just recently hosted the Streetscape festival as part of Luminato, and this particular event was produced in association with the Art Gallery of Ontario, and that the city backed the recent Style in Progress festival which contained a large graffiti component, there is no question urban art is art and that the City of Toronto recognizes it as such, even if the Toronto and East York Community Council does not.
Since Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone hopes "to make commissioned graffiti art a part of every community" the position of Community Council on our mural is even more incongruous.
Although Ms. Bussin has often suggested that we apply for a city grant to assist in the cost of a new mural, we do not feel that is appropriate or necessary.
Every business on our street has been tagged, does the city intend to give each of them taxpayer money? ... How much taxpayer money is going to be wasted painting murals that Ms. Bussin approves of and which the taggers do not respect?
Surely Deputy Mayor Pantalone did not mean only city-sanctioned commissioned graffiti art was acceptable because that would be close to censorship and even Ms. Bussin would not take (that) position ... would she?
I hope that now that these vandals have made their point they will ... choose a more appropriate method of expressing their opinions, perhaps by letters to the editor or directly to Ms. Bussin, not on walls owned by third parties who have nothing to do with this debate
No comments:
Post a Comment