Project Brings Graffiti Art Out of the Dark

In the Aug 20 Washington Post, Reporter Martin Ricard examines the confluence of public art and spray-painting graffiti. Our friends and clients, Albus Cavus, have a vision of harnessing the creative power of graffiti to transform public spaces with art. From the story:

But on this day, spray-painting graffiti on public property, an act that would have been against the law any other time, was all good. It was part of a “mural jam,” a city-sponsored project that drew dozens of graffiti artists to contribute their flair to a nearly 1,000-foot-long wall turned canvas in Northeast’s Edgewood community.

The goal of the project is to beautify the city and dissuade youths from engaging in illegal graffiti. But it represents a broader shift in thinking among the city’s political and art establishments, which are beginning to learn how to coexist with a graffiti culture that has thrived for years.

“We decided that just painting over [graffiti] with one color was not the answer,” said Gloria Nauden, executive director of the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, which authorized the murals. “You have to embrace them as artists, give them freedom. It’s about the respect and allowance of not being defined.”

Read it all here: Project Brings Graffiti Art Out of the Dark