Visual Resistance

If you are a teenage student, frustrated with authority and looking for a creative outlet, or a teacher looking to challenge the institutions of art education, or a graffiti head looking to be a mentor to young folks, here’s something that might interest you:

My mom, a high school art teacher at Columbia High School in Maplewood, NJ recently showed me some of the work her students have produced. She encourages them to add personal elements to each art exercise they do. Clearly graffiti is an important element in these students’ identities. One student drew a self-portrait incorporating graffiti style letters. Another drew a still life of wrenches with his name thrown up in the background. Another student drew a still life of his id tags (which each student is required to wear in the hallways) juxtoposed with his name written in bubble letters on a brick wall.

The recogniton of graffiti as an art form can lend itself to be a powerful lesson in the classroom.

Right now in New York City, graf legends Tracy 168, CoCo 144, Rate, Case 2, and JA are working with high school students at the Urban Academy to cover the walls of the school with tags, throw ups, and whatever else they can dream up. The school has been covered in chalkboard paint so that students and graf writers can piece up everywhere.

The project is open to the public, but you can only see it for the next 2 Saturdays at the Urban Academy in Julia Richman High School, 317 East 67th Street, from noon to 4 p.m.

This is indeed a radical approach to art education, and one that teachers should take notice of. Teaching non-traditional methods of art to students encourages them to think critically about existing institutions of authority in a positive way.

In a recent New York Times article, teachers and administrators commented on the importance of creating a supportive venue for students to express themselves through graffiti:

“You can’t act like it doesn’t happen,” said Roy Reid, an Urban Academy teacher who has created a class that centers on street art. “You have to try to direct it and channel it instead of just saying, ‘Don’t do it.’ “

Even the principal Herb Mack expressed support for the project noting that it stands in opposition to Mayor Bloomberg’s criminalization of graffiti:

“I’m not sure how it’s going to be seen by Klein or Bloomberg,” he added, referring to Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein and the mayor. (A spokeswoman for Chancellor Klein and the Department of Education said the department supported the project, but added, “We would expect the school to make clear both the importance of appreciating art and respecting property.”)

Mr. Mack, one of the founders of Urban Academy, said he had watched it develop into an unlikely collaboration. “It’s enriching for the kids to be able to see legitimate artists at work and to critique it,” he said. “They see some of these guys as the da Vincis and van Goghs of their world. They know who they are, and they’re excited that they’re here. In fact, they can’t believe they’re here.”

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 3rd, 2005 at 12:49 pm and is filed under Events, Free Speech, In the News, Street Art / Graffiti. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.