Graffiti Summit to Save Art in Schools

Graffiti Summit to Save Art in Schools

For decades the Tri-State school system fought to keep graffiti out of schools, but now graffiti artists may be the last hope for their under-funded arts programs.

New Jersey high school P.S. 15 has issued an invitation to “turn their walls into the ultimate canvas,” according P.S. 15 Vice-Principal Jose Correa. And from August 28th- 29th they will partner with the Urban Art Foundation to host this year’s “Meeting of Styles,” an international gathering of the world’s finest urban artists that is for the graffiti world the World Cup, Super Bowl and a United Nations summit all rolled into one.

Artists from more than ten countries will be participating, including international urban art sensations Prisco and MS BLESS from Puerto Rico, and Ame72 from Israel. Each artist will be given wall space in P.S. 15 located at 98 Oak St. in Paterson, NJ. Art lovers are invited to watch as the gray concrete is transformed in an explosion of color and movement. Only the best of the best have a spot at the Meeting of Styles and for this brief time all rivalry is put aside. Artists who are usually competing with one another, whether on the street or for lucrative contracts in the world of Hip-Hop marketing, come together to share their techniques and advance the art form.

Graffiti artists from all over the world say they are excited at the chance to practice on the soil that gave birth to their movement. Some wereoriginally from New York or New Jersey, but because of harsh anti-graffiti laws enacted in the ’80s, they were forced to take their art into exile. “In America we were hunted. In Europe a lot of guys got rich,” says artist SUEWORKS who is the chief organizer of this Meeting of Styles. “But our roots are here. Finally graffiti can come home.”

The new appreciation for graffiti art and culture is going further than ever before thanks to the work of the Urban Art Foundation that is sponsoring the event. The newly formed New York City non-profit has become the ACLU of urban art. “We are taking back the street for artists in the same place it was taken away,” says Eric Granowsky, Executive Director of the Urban Art Foundation, “the courts.”

In 1985 New York City Mayor Ed Koch made possession of spray paint illegal in the hands of minors and the City began aggressively prosecuting artists. At the same time, “The Buff,” a system for chemically washing away spray paint from NYC subway trains was removing the artists’ primary canvas. Not only could an artist be arrested and face vastly disproportionate fines and prison sentences, but days of work could be wiped away in an instant with nothing more than soap and water.

The Urban Art Foundation is now using the same legal system that disenfranchised graffiti to defend it. “We are creating a fund to pay the legal fees of unfairly prosecuted graffiti artists and to repeal discriminatory laws,” says Craig Dershowitz, Co-founder of UAF. “And we’re fighting legal battles to have classic graffiti murals preserved as landmarks.”

Granowsky, who made his fortune as a NYC real estate developer says that these are treasures the City cannot afford to lose. “Books are written to sell to a market, art is created to appeal to collectors and critics, movies are made to sell lunch boxes, graffiti is pure. Not only are some of these murals part of iconic New York,” he says, “but contrary to popular belief, the right kind of graffiti actually pushes property values up. Just look at Williamsburg.”

The Meeting of Styles is also an example of the way the Urban Art Foundation is using the electric interest in graffiti to help raise funds to make sure that art stays in New York and New Jersey classrooms. Sponsorship money and proceeds generated on site will go directly to restore arts programs in schools.

But more, organizers say that the urban art represented at The Meeting of Styles takes art out of captivity in museums and private galleries and puts it back into the hands of ordinary people to enjoy and encourages young people to develop their creativity. “These guys made art cool,” says SUEWORKS of participating graffiti legends like REE, CRAINE, SNAKE, KING TWO, PART ONE, STAN, and SNOW. They inspired us as kids and with The Meeting of Styles, they will reach a whole new generation and treat the City to a display like it hasn’t seen in more than 20 years. The art is back.”