Crime or art?

One under appreciated art form is graffiti. It can be done on almost any surface from buildings to trucks to a canvas. But, there's been a lot of controversy dealing with graffiti and one question that's always brought up is...is it a crime or art? Some people would argue that it's only a form of vandalism and it destroys public property. Others agree that's it's a crime to some extent, but that it isn't a serious or violent problem because some graffiti reflects a positive message and isn't hurting anyone. Today, graffiti is still being done on walls, trucks, etc. but it's also being moved onto canvas.

I've added two videos that are a little long, but worth watching. First is a video from Fox 13 News at Nine. We hear from different taggers in Salt Lake City about their reasons for tagging. The video also includes how some kids are learning how to tag legally.



Second, a video made for the CSUN's MOSAIC program. It shows graffiti artists, including youths working to promote graffiti as a legit art form. Also depicted in this video is a group that's known as "Walls to Canvas."