“For $100,000 you could employ five part time graffiti artists to decorate the city’s walls and paint over tags and graffiti on non-legal walls. These artists could be selected by a public jury according to a submission of works. For another $50,000 you could supply them with paint for the year and a company mountain bike (instead of a company car).”
The strategy would necessarily need to be augmented by the provision of numerous new legal graffiti walls around the city, Mr Alcorn said. Otherwise graffiti artists would have nowhere to practice their art form.
“Currently there is only one legal graffiti wall, at South Newcastle beach skate park. People should hardly be surprised by illegal graffiti when there is only one legal wall to service a city of half a million people which is home to hundreds of graffiti artists”.
Mr Alcorn said that this way the five appointed artists would have an incentive to encourage other artists to use the legal walls.
“Instead of prohibition council should encourage a culture of using legal walls.
The best people to encourage and foster this culture are graffiti artists themselves, not father-figure politicians who demonise and disrespect our city’s youth and their culture.
“My plan would cheaper than paying expensive contractors and conducting police witch hunts- and way more effective”.
Alcorn said that with the $100,000 saved, council could resurface the run down skate park at south Newcastle beach. Currently council had a ridiculously inadequate budget of $20,000 per annum to service the city’s seven skateparks, meaning virtually no repairs could be made.
“And at the end of the day, we can have the world’s best graffiti strategy but the top priority for all councils right now needs to be climate change. And on this crucial issue, John Tate has been conspicuously silent”.
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