Replacing Graffiti With Street Art In Flagstaff

Replacing Graffiti With Street Art In Flagstaff – Seven years ago, Krissy Brown moved into her residence on Lower Greenlaw. While moving in she noticed the cement wall situated in the alley behind her home, which was half-haphazardly splattered with globs of paint. Volunteer graffiti cleanup crews had just used the paint to cover the monikers or ‘tags’ sprayed by vandals in the neighborhood. The paint came in varying colors and didn’t match the underlying brick. Essentially, it looked like crap.

Despite the efforts of the cleanup crews, Brown observed that new graffiti continued to appear over time, right over the globs of paint. Consequently, the wall became an increasingly disorderly display of fresh graffiti and multicolored cover-ups. Graffiti artists had begun to utilize the wall as an 80-foot by 10-foot blank canvas. It still looked like crap.

Last summer, Brown decided to take action. In June, she requested permission from the owner of the wall and was granted approval to apply some paint of her own. With the owner’s consent, she went to the local hardware store to purchase inexpensive cans of house paint. Her approach to the alley wall was about more than covering up graffiti. It was about adding a bright spot to her neighborhood.

During the day, Brown works as a civil engineer for the U.S. Forest Service, but her passion for painting comes to life at night. Her day job might have influenced the theme she selected for her mural, which was based on trees growing in her neighbor’s yard. These trees had their branches and tops extending above the brick wall and into the Flagstaff sky.

On her side of the fence, Brown depicted the trees’ trunks and roots, along with an aspen grove and rolling green hills. She completed the trees that were growing on one side of the cement wall by painting them on the opposite side. From her kitchen sink, the trees appeared unbroken, surrounded by bright butterflies even in the winter.

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This was Brown’s first attempt at a large-scale painting project. She admitted that concrete was not the easiest material to work with, and house paint was probably not the best medium to use on it. She learned that spray paint was preferable for graffiti artists because it provided the correct coverage. House paint, on the other hand, was tricky because it didn’t blend colors like acrylic paint, and mixing colors could result in a dreadful brown hue.

Despite the challenges, Brown persevered, and the mural became a small-scale community project. An 11-year-old artist who lived nearby joined her and painted detailed butterflies beneath Brown’s canopy. Passers-by in the alleyway would pause and admire the mural.

Brown’s Collaboration With Young Artists

Replacing Graffiti With Street Art In Flagstaff

Brown considered the mural a work in progress and planned to add more details and plant life to the scene. However, the artwork has already been effective in deterring graffiti and tags in the area. Graffiti still appeared on fences behind other homes, but the mural remained untouched.

Enter Art Professor Franklin Willis who believes that public art and murals can help combat graffiti and vandalism. Willis, who teaches at Northern Arizona University, has seen how mural projects in Detroit have reduced graffiti in the area. He believes that graffiti can serve as a marker of a certain time and place, but it can also be an expression of a person. In his experience, most of the graffiti in Flagstaff appears to emerge from a kind of impulse toward self-expression as opposed to a desire to mark out gang territory. Willis believes that offering young graffiti artists the opportunity to participate in mural projects can encourage them to think bigger and showcase their skills in a more positive way. He wants to create opportunities for young people to see how they can build a future through their art, and he believes that art can be a positive force for change in communities.

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Willis earned a grant from the Michigan Council for the Arts before launching his 30-year career teaching young artists in Flagstaff. He took that grant and applied it to public art work in Detroit, which at the time had a problem with graffiti. Willis said that various artists were asked to produce murals in the community, reflecting the people and diversity of the community. Once a mural was put up, many of the areas that graffiti artists often hit, were no longer vandalized. Willis believes that murals can dissuade graffiti artists, but they can also be a place to offer young people engaging in potential vandalism an opportunity to think bigger.

Flagstaff police spokesperson Jerry Rintala said that gang-related graffiti is less prevalent in recent years. Tagging is typically a misdemeanor, but when tags are left on school or church property, the crime becomes a felony. If one tag is used over and over again, then linked back to a single artist, that artist may easily rack up a felony charge. Because most of Flagstaff’s graffiti appears to emerge from a kind of impulse toward self-expression as opposed to a desire to mark out gang territory, Willis believes mural and fine art projects might offer a solution.

Willis believes that graffiti can serve as a marker of a certain time and place, but it can also be an expression of a person. Graffiti can mark the presence of a person, and over the course of decades, he’s seen Flagstaff grow and change, becoming more diverse. He hopes that graffiti artists can become collaborators for mural projects and bring their talents to the task of reflecting a community with shifting demographics.

“If you take locations where you see a bunch of graffiti artists spraying and highlighting or marking and you come in and you put a work of art there, you could tie it into the diversity of the community, diversity of concepts and of people, you tie things like that in there, usually they won’t touch those areas again. They will go through and look at them as being the symbol that marks and highlights the area,” Willis said.

He thinks murals can dissuade graffiti artists, but they can also be a place to offer the often young people engaging in potential vandalism an opportunity to think bigger.

“If I knew who the people were who would go through and do graffiti, I would arrange for them to come and produce a work of art. Manage it, structure it so that it has a symbolic meaning and it communicates to the diversity of the community, not just to a specific group. Open it up, and a lot of these young people could see their skills transformed into something people are seeing and responding to, and it’s having a positive reflection rather than a negative reflection,” Willis said.

Working closely with his students, Willis, a professor of painting at NAU, demonstrates the limitless potential of a brush, canvas, and inventive spirit.

One day, Willis surprised his class by setting up a still life consisting of a Tonka toy, a yellow-gold front loader. Some students questioned the relevance of painting such an object, but Willis had a plan. He began painting the still life alongside his students, fostering their enthusiasm for new ideas and experiences. By leading by example, he showed them the power of creativity and how it can be used to achieve goals and objectives. This approach paid off when he submitted his Tonka series to various art shows and exhibitions.

Willis’ method of teaching emphasizes collaboration and positive motivation, inspiring students to push their boundaries and explore new concepts.

Willis is passionate about demonstrating the power of art to his students. For him, art has opened up doors to a successful career in construction, as well as complementing his academic pursuits as a professor. Starting with crafting canvasses and picture frames, he honed his carpentry and building skills, ultimately obtaining his contractor’s license and constructing custom homes.

Currently, Willis’ Doney Park studio houses his Tonka still lifes on easels, within a bright and airy space featuring high windows and an illuminating skylight. The studio was built entirely by Willis himself, and he now seeks to provide opportunities for young people to explore how their art can shape their futures. He is particularly interested in working with young graffiti artists.

Willis envisions inspiring young people to transform their art and create murals or works on paper. He wants to show them how to market and sell their creations, thus providing them with a new perspective on their creative and social pursuits, while also attaching a monetary value to their work. He believes this approach can make a significant impact, and it is something he actively encourages.

Brown has her sights set on the future, as well. She is currently collaborating with a friend in Mobile Haven on a project similar to the one in her back alley. Her aim is to redirect the focus of graffiti artists, and to create a vibrant reflection of the community.

The parts of Brown’s Greenlaw mural that she treasures most are the ones that came about through collaboration – just like those magnificent butterflies.