Why legal Walls and Murals matter....

I am a native Calgarian, who became interested and very active in the graffiti community in Calgary in the late 9o’s.  I hated my suburban lifestyle, and was really drawn into the lines of text that popped out at me when I started riding public transit.  As a teenager, I made my own tags and characters, and started drawing on public property all over the city.  To be honest my motivation was to show other young people I was a risk taker and a good artist.

Before long I had met almost everyone in the scene, and picked up a few tips along the way. I was painting characters and pieces, and I found myself really liking painting at our “legal wall” a self governed tunnel at Barlow Maxbell.  I could actually prove to my peers and myself that I had skills, and there was a pretty slim chance of cops showing up.  I have warm memories of summer days, painting with whoever showed up and eying up all the new pieces.

  I am pretty much self taught when it comes to spray painting, graffiti is a really male dominated activity, and once I stated progressing, a lot of guys started hating on me.  Luckily there are some pretty cool graffiti writers who aren’t insecure.

Dobek, Nanaimo, 2007

I moved to Nanaimo between 2006-2011.  It a period of change and growth form me, because I turned my attention away from the “lost world” of addiction and mental illness towards personal healing, growth and change.  One thing never changed, my intrigue and interest in all forms of public art, solicited or otherwise.

Nanaimo has had a few serious graffiti writers pass through, but for the most part, it’s a really young, under developed scene.  My friend from junior high school, a writer named Dobek, got commissioned to paint some amazing spawning fish under a bridge along the sea wall.  It was beautiful, up close the fish looked like abstract impressionist art, with bright colors skill fully layered, which created a parade of whimsical rainbow trout.Since Dobek had gotten his foot in the door, I followed up at the parks and rec office, asking if there where any more potential mural sites.  Before long, Kirsty McDonald, an influential city planner, asked me to come up with a design for a tunnel along the E and A bike path and the rest is history.  For the following couple years I followed up that mural, with two other massive projects.I gained business skills, friendships, a sense of community, but most importantly a sense of self worth and pride.

Dobek, Sea Wall,  Nanaimo, 2006

Unity, Brooks Landing, Nanaimo, 2010

I shared my tunnels with any artists who wanted to help out and even mentored a few youth.  For my last mural, an 80 ft long dragon, I got some homies from the soup kitchen to lend a hand.  We all felt good about what we were doing and the community was really grateful and supportive.  I made the front page of the newspaper and got to curate a youth art show.  With these skills, and knowing first hand the transformative nature the murals had on myself and the community, (showing people that some graffiti artists are down with legal projects), I thought I could create positive change in Calgary, but I met a few brick walls.  
This is why I’m creating this forum, to see if Calgarians of different backgrounds and ages are interested in working together to create avenues of change.   My experiences in Nanaimo changed my life and gave me the sense of self worth and integration I was searching for, because they honored my unique skills, talent and vision.  I believe that there are a lot of youth and people fromfragile situations that would benefit in partaking in community murals.

I believe all people need to be honored for their contributions to the world around them, great and small.  For people who don’t necessarily fit into mainstream conventions city beautification is an excellent way to contribute to society.

It's pretty sad when bylaws limit artistic freedom for youth to the point of suffocation.  Instead of aspiring to paint beautiful murals, rebellious youth become interested in vandalism, and the fact that there are no venues for positive self expression only fuels there fire.  If society says, "fuck you" to graffiti artists, they are gonna say "fuck you" back, and you got a six million dollar problem on your hands.

I'm not saying I know what the solution is, but zero tolerance and an unconstitutional bylaw are not the answer.