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Graffitists have gone just a little too far |
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Written by Pamela Roth LETHBRIDGE HERALD
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Tuesday, February 17 2009, 1:11 PM |
Anyone armed with spray paint, hoping to leave their mark at the Lethbridge skateboard park had better think twice now that the city is no longer tolerating graffiti at the location as part of its graffiti bylaw.
Up until the bylaw was put into place last September, graffiti had always been tolerated at the skateboard park, with signs at the isolated location near Dave Elton Park asking graffiti artists to confine their work to the immediate area. But according to city Parks Operations Manager Kevin Jensen, the signs did little to keep graffiti artists from straying out of bounds, with the spray paint continually spreading to a nearby fence, washroom, garbage cans, and nearly everything else that surrounds the park.
That’s why Jensen approached council last fall to rethink the city’s unofficial policy of tolerating graffiti at the skateboard park. And now that his request has been granted, the signs at the park will come down soon to abide with the new bylaw that blankets the city.
“This whole thing about free walls or graffiti areas, like skateboard parks, are proven by studies not to work effectively. They have a tendency to attract illegal graffiti in surrounding areas and they act as a social network for the graffiti vandals,” said Jensen, whose seen some fresh graffiti appear at the park since the bylaw was put into place, emphasizing a need for more action to be taken to catch graffiti vandals. “I would like to see the camera system brought in that council has voted against, and more patrolling and enforcement.”
The graffiti bylaw was put into place as a way to crack down on those who deface property, with graffiti artists risking fines of $2,500 to $10,000, or six months in prison, if they opt to ignore the law and are caught making their mark.
Jensen is first to admit that even though there is now a bylaw in place to help deter graffiti artists, it won’t exactly make them throw out their cans of spray paint and go away, so he’s come up with another alternative.
Since some of the graffiti artists are quite talented at their craft, Jensen would like to see a permit system put in place for graffiti artists who want to display their work. How it would work, according to Jensen, is if a graffiti artist wants to practice graffiti and do a piece at the skateboard park, they would come forward to the city and apply for a permit to do so, providing their name and the time they will be there. This would allow graffiti artists to practice and display their work in a controlled environment, he added.
“Some of it’s true art. There are some really good artists out there and it’s too bad they don’t have a place to express themselves,” said Jensen. “When they do express themselves on some people’s fences and garages, I have no patience for that. I expect people to abide by the bylaw and I think serious arrests would really send the message out to the rest of the vandals.”
The skateboard park was one of the most popular locations for graffiti artists, along with a tunnel under University Drive.
This past summer, young city crews set out on the streets to combat unsightly graffiti throughout the city. Nearly 5,000 pieces — referred to as tags — were removed during the $132,000 four-month blitz, which targeted buildings, fences, garbage bins, utility boxes, poles, signs, mail boxes, benches, walkways and playgrounds.
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Last Updated ( Monday, August 10 2009, 2:28 PM )
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