Teaching graffiti and street art in education

Teaching graffiti and street art in education

5-7 pages, APA, 10-15 references. Some context on the paper, this is more personal, I was a teacher's assistant in a undergraduate course about activism and Latin American street art. I need to be able to write my personal experience, which will be no problem, the research is what I am missing. I need to answer the question "How can studying Graffiti and Street Art be a useful tool in the classroom?" and "What responsibility do educators have when teaching about subcultures/deviant culture such as street art and graffiti?" I am in the USA. I am mostly looking at graffiti and street art in the USA and Mexico

During the course of my internship I helped teach three classes of seventh graders about making stencils. We had hoped that ULV students would take what they had learned and pass it on the junior high students. The lectures were disorganized and the message muddled. Like many other aspects of the course, students did not take a leadership role and relied on the professor and myself to do the bulk of the work. In studying the history and debates around graffiti and street art and through assisting in a course on street art and activism, I have come to question the use of graffiti and street art as a subject of instruction and as a teaching tool in classrooms. In this paper I will be looking at the various debates around graffiti and comparing them with the possible benefits or consequences of using this form of art and expression in an educational setting.

The subject of graffiti and street art is a complex issue to say the least. When deciding whether there is a role for graffiti and street art in the classroom there are many considerations that need to be made first. Graffiti, continues to be illegal in most of the world and is seen by many as a deviant and criminal activity in the form of property damage, or vandalism. There are certain physical risks involved with graffiti and street art. Society at the same time punishes and celebrates these forms of art and expression sending mixed messages resulting in distrust and disdain by artist/writers. The scene itself is rife with division.

While the term “street art” has no official definition and can not be found in dictionaries other than urban dictiorary, the term “graffiti” is well defined and documented. First appearing in 1964, the term “graffiti” comes from the Italian word graffito, which means “scratch” and refers to something being “scratched through a layer of paint or plaster.” Later the term was used to describe other similar marks (Concise Encyclopedia). Early forms of graffiti can be found on ancient Roman ruins, in the Mayan city of Tikal, on Spanish rocks dating from the 16th century, and in medieval England churches (Concise Encyclopedia). Graffiti is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “pictures or words painted or drawn on a wall, building, etc.” Today, the term graffiti most often refers to works in large urban US cities, coming out of and inspired by the second half of the 20th century, and spread in part due to popular culture around the world. 

I will first start with a very brief history of graffiti and street art. While graffiti in its anthropological historical sense has been around since the early years of humankind, graffiti as we know it today came about in the 60s and 70s in the urban areas of New York and Philadelphia. In the 1980s the scene shifted and a subculture immerged. Out of these changes came different methods including stickers, posters, stencils, etc., which gave rise to the street art scene. 

There is controversy regarding the two artistic styles, “graffiti” and “street art,” and the culture surrounding them. each person you ask will give you a different definition of the cultures. In my research, I have found two main viewpoints. One being that graffiti and street art are distinct cultures with there own rules and such. The second viewpoint is that they are part of the same movement and the terms used interchangeably. At the same time graffiti and street art bring people together as well as divide. Not only is there division regarding the morality of graffiti and street art, there is also a rivalry between graffiti and street art and conflicting ideologies among the cultures in regard to commercialization and recognition. For this paper I will be referring to street art and graffiti as two similar but distinct cultures, hence using the phrase “graffiti and street art.” 

The first consideration that needs to be considered is the illegality. These are the consequences of “graffiti.” How is it handled legally? 

The second issue is physical risk. the toxic nature of the supplies. the danger of painting/writing on elevated and moving spaces (ie trains, overpasses, billboards). Fighting amongst other writers/artists over territory and dominance. Brutality by police. 

moral relativity

benefits of graffiti and street art as far as community building. . 

examples of programs out there.

Given the controversy over the subject, what are the justifications benefits of using graffiti and street art in education.

My experience teaching workshops and organizing the event, designing the class, etc. 

I feel that we have a responsibility to inform students of the consequences while still encouraging them to question authority and to push boundaries. Is there really a place for this in our modern day education which overall supports the current systems and is used in teaching conformity. education used to be thought of as dangerous. it still is in some places/cultures. How do we keep the balance of order and progress? We are taught to do well in school, so you can get into a good college, so you can get a good job. But it’s lies for the most part. It all comes down to money and this is huge in the graffiti debate. you are encouraged to seek fame inside of the culture but if you go outside of it you are seen as a sell out. the law looks out for those with money, owners of personal and public space, it only becomes legitimate to the larger community when it becomes profitable and then it is rejected by those within the culture itself. 

I think we would be doing the students a disservice by teaching them the craft without the politics and philosophy behind it. We could have started the students out with a debate and a pre-class questionnaire to determine where they stood before during and after the course. . 

http://sickoftheradio.com/2010/12/27/art-street-artist-graffiti-writer/ street artist vs graff writer

Notes to Self

struggles of the community, the reality of their experience come through the piece may not be intentional. 

emotion of the piece

if you are doing it for people, then people control it.

self-esteem

evolution of the art and action

kgb gallery off of spring, downtown, chinatown area

sense of acceptance/community

Graffiti off the walls, Mora 

separation the act from the culture. 

infamy documentary

style wars 

street art academy

● The opposing view points of graffiti. Art vs vandalism vs free speech

● consequences: death, injury, jail, fights, beating by police, dangerous chemicals

● teaching as art from an art perspective removing it from the culture

● teaching consequences to under 16 years does not stop the risk seeking behavior typical of teenagers, live for the moment thinking

● teaching morals

● schools have the worst problem with graffiti

● sociopolitical implications 

● definitions

● experience

● relativistic morality

● some of the students knew more about it than we did.