This is a very clever and amusing photo series that documents one wall in the UK that saw various graffiti, street art and graffiti abatement over a period of one year.  The Street Artist is have a virtual dialog with the city graffiti abatement officer and uses stencils to prod, inquire and test the rules for how the city is supposed to clean up graffiti.  Worth the look.  


Click here for the link. 

In Ogden, Utah, a partnership between the city and local art college is converting a blighted underpass which has been a frequent target for graffiti attack into an extensive mural and public artwork. 

This effort is making the underpass "feel" safer for pedestrians and joggers and eliminates a source of blight and frustration.  The murals may not eliminate the graffiti, but should significantly decrease the frequency.  Excellent anti-graffiti coatings can be applied to help protect the mural and allow easy graffiti removal when a tagger decides to tag over the mural. 

In Port Angeles, Washington, Richard Schneider, after retiring from the National Park Service, decided to take matters into his own hands.  He has removed over 70 graffiti tags over the past few months.  He is highly motivated to improve this city and community by eliminating graffiti blight.  He attempts to remove graffiti tags as quickly as possible to discourage them from reoccurring.  By removing the tags quickly, the hope is that the taggers move on to areas less visible to the community or stop all together. 

Graffiti Taggers Beware.  The Fredericksburg Police Department is fed up with the significant increase in graffiti tagging in the community and has issues a $500 Reward for tips that lead to the arrest of a graffiti tagger.  In 2014, there were 16 graffiti tags reported.  In 2015, there have already been 55 reported cases of graffiti. 

The reward give the taggers pause before they go out tagging in the future, but the recent arrest of a local graffiti tagger will have much more impact to deter them from creating more graffiti.  This multi-pronged response to eliminate and reduce graffiti is a best practice and should lead to a reduction in the frequency of graffiti tagging.

In Tinley Park, IL, a graffiti spree included the spray painting of several swastikas and "White Power" on homes, fences and cars.  Additionally, a black X was spray painted onto an American flag.

In Pascagoula, MS, a Mississippi state flag was burned next to the spray painted words "Blacks Rule" on the driveway of an 85 year old Korean War disabled veteran. 

In Eden, NC, a business owner found a noose tied to his fence and the words :We are here! KKK" spray painted onto an RV. 

In Vass, NC, an investigation is underway to identify the source of the highly charged racist graffiti words "F*** N****** KKK" that appeared on three concrete bridges over Highway 1. 

There is a lot of talk of having an open dialog about race, but this is not what was envisioned.

Chris Campagna is a Chicago resident of Historic Pullman neighborhood.  He is also and artist, a father, a advocate for his community, and very creative.  When his garage door was spray painted with graffiti, he decided to turn it into a giant chalkboard for his kids and other kids in the neighborhood to draw on any time.

A traditional rivalry between two high schools in Ogden, Utah in the lead up to the big football game resulted in graffiti vandalism.  Defacing a rival school building is one thing, but the swastikas are another. 

Did this push the rivalry and pranks too far?  Did both school administrations issue statements condemning the graffiti attack?  Did the second school make an offer to help cover some of the costs of graffiti removal?

Nope. The second school district suggested that people should not blame their students, because the graffiti attack was possibly done by "some provokers".  At least we know that the school is doing a good job teaching their students their values...

Gang graffiti tagging in public spaces is problematic enough, but the spray painting of "ISIS" on a river back in Pueblo, Colorado powerfully shifts the conversation to a political one.  What is the message trying to be communicated by these taggers promoting a group that actively engages in beheading Americans, selling captured girls into slavery, and a wide variety of gruesome and barbaric acts?  If they were caught tagging in the areas controlled by ISIS, my guess is that their punishment would be both severe and barbaric.

An elementary school in Albuquerque, New Mexico was the target of a graffiti attack over night.  The extensive black spray paint graffiti covered multiple walls and is expected to cost the School District thousands of dollars to clean up. 


With school budgets stretched thin, the dollars spent to remove graffiti are reallocated from another priorities. Perhaps a vacant building or some other blighted structure is fair game for graffiti, but tagging on schools, or for that matter, churches, parks, and community centers is vandalism.  No matter how good the "street art" is, the costs for removal is real and drain funds away from much needed improvements and maintenance.

Not all graffiti is created equal.  In Barnegat, New Jersey, after a consignment shop's white panel delivery truck was covered with a graffiti tag, a few professional graffiti artists stepped in with a solution.  These Graffiti Artists are  on a mission to change the negative perception of graffiti tagging and elevate the way that the public views graffiti.  Using their talents, they painted over the crude graffiti tag and turned the truck into a bonafide mural, both eliminating the tag and adding value to the truck and local business.

Check out the photos here