Legal Walls for Graffiti
The discussion
Lucia: The council wants to designate five walls where anyone can paint legally, and I think it's a brilliant idea. Street art brings visitors to run-down districts, and it gives young artists somewhere to practise without a criminal record.
Arjun: I'm sceptical, because the whole point of street art is that it's unauthorised. Once the council picks the wall and sets the rules, you get decorative murals, not the kind of work that actually says something.
Bao: My family's shop is next to one of the proposed walls, and my concern is simpler. Legal walls in other cities became magnets for tagging on every surface nearby, because people turn up with paint and don't stop at the boundary.
Lucia: Studies in a couple of cities found the opposite, that illegal graffiti dropped in the surrounding streets once there was a legal outlet. And Arjun, plenty of artists want to be seen, not arrested.
Arjun: Fair enough, maybe I'm romanticising it. I'd go along with the walls if the council stays out of what gets painted, so no approval process and no themes.
Bao: The research doesn't reassure me much, because every street is different. I'd want a one-year trial with the council paying to clean any tagging on neighbouring buildings, and if it gets worse, the wall closes.