Graffiti as an Art Form

In August 2008 the City of Playford undertook a partnership project with Anglicare and 10 young people from the Playford area with a passion for aerosol art. The project was about young people taking their artwork from illegal to legal and participants were selected on their artistic merit and commitment to the program. For all of the participants this was the first time their work had been displayed in a professional setting and also the first time they had been part of the SALA (South Australian Living Art) exhibition program.

The theme of the exhibition was 'Respect - what that means to you and your community'.

In this program the young people involved learnt that part of getting respect is giving respect. It gave them the opportunity to get respect in different ways, to work as a team and to learn new skills at the same time.

Workshops were held with professional aerosol artist Sam Evans who assisted the group to develop and refine their techniques and develop their own art portfolios.  The group were encouraged to extend their view of urban art further than hip-hop graffiti. It showed that some of the graffiti that we may see on the streets can be more easily thought of as art when it is contained by the edges of a canvas and appropriately displayed.

On completion of the program these young people were given the opportunity to work with Council's Graffiti Program Co-ordinator to channel their creative energy into "legal" aerosol community art pieces on selected sites throughout the City of Playford. Watch this space for further projects.

Papers relating to graffiti as an art form were presented at the 2003 Graffiti and Disorder Conference (local government, law enforcement and community responses) http://www.aic.gov.au/conferences/2003-graffiti/#papers

• Graffiti culture and hip hop : working from within
  Mick Jones, Wollongong City Council, New South Wales
• Graffiti art : a multi-faceted approach
  Sue Lawler, Hervey Bay City Council, Queensland
• Graffiti, regulation, freedom
  Elisa Arcioni, University of Wollongong
• Graffiti and public art
  Ashley Frost, Kiama Municipal Council, New South Wales
• The art force project and legal art as a target-hardening strategy (ABSTRACT ONLY)
  Sean Hodgson, Brisbane City Council, Queensland

• http://www.digitalscores.com/james/

• http://www.graffitimasterclass.com/part1.htm