Steve,

In Cambridge we are lucky to have a widely known free wall, aka sanctioned wall, in the middle of Central Square. The alley's formal name is Modica Way, but everyone calls it Graffiti Alley, and it's a very public space. The wall is privately owned. Graffiti Alley has evolved over many years, is always lively, and changes daily. In addition to the many passing through the alley, many people who are not graffiti artists come specifically to check out what's new on the walls. Artists have told us that they use it to practice a new technique, or to build confidence to do larger murals. A local filmmaker, Olivia Huang, received a grant to make a film about it. Last year when some large graffiti related to Gaza appeared (photo attached), there were some internal city conversations about it, but it was painted over by something new within a couple days. The imagery is continuously changing.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/38bD83z3RZo7ZbUF8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUloXiP34tE

The Central Square Business Improvement District is very active and has commissioned many murals for Central Square, providing an active neighborhood for mural and other arts surrounding Graffiti Alley. https://www.centralsq.org/public-art.

Also in our area, the Charles River Conservancy created a great skate park, Lynch Family Skate Park, situated under the highway between Cambridge, Somerville, and Boston. They just received permission from the state (who owns the site) to create a new free wall there, in addition to commissioning a mural. Plenty of graffiti in the space exists already. https://thecharles.org/our-work/lynch-family-skatepark/ . CRC has received grants from us to support the free wall/mural community engagement process, and we also collaborate with them because we have funding to establish a free wall in west Cambridge on a pedestrian/bike path that goes under a road, providing two walls on the abutments. My hope is that we can have two more free walls to this region in addition to Graffiti Alley.

I'd be happy to have a phone call to discuss if that would be helpful.

Lillian

Lillian Hsu (she/her)
Director of Public Art and Exhibitions
Cambridge Arts
344 Broadway, 2nd Floor
Cambridge, MA 02139
T 617-349-4389; F 617-349-4669
www.cambridgeartscouncil.org

-----Original Message-----
From: public_art_network@americansforthearts.simplelists.com <public_art_network@americansforthearts.simplelists.com> On Behalf Of Mital Lyons-Warren
Sent: Wednesday, February 12, 2025 3:51 PM
To: Steve Wright <swright@townofchapelhill.org>; PAN Listserv <public_art_network@americansforthearts.simplelists.com>
Subject: RE: unsupervised graff art area at skate park?

Hi Steve,

I wanted to share this article I just saw from a new Demystifying the Arts column. CEO Patrick Fisher advocates for graffiti as an artform worth celebrating and embracing. What if communities viewed graffiti as a form of cultural expression rather than criminal activity?

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.pittsburghartscouncil.org/blog/graffiti-cultural-bridge-lessons-pittsburgh-and-beyond?blm_aid=70758__;!!GolgDdAAPFHvrrz0!f3Kb_eZpnHohIpVhY2BzITEgvdMGgrwGMXlmz23CTDDD5Fk744s3DBcSTN2C3RObOaZz0bhcnhUKi6t-Q2oblVkEcnlU$

Mital

Mital Lyons-Warren

Manager
Local Engagement
Americans for the Arts
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Book time with Mital Lyons-Warren

-----Original Message-----
From: public_art_network@americansforthearts.simplelists.com <public_art_network@americansforthearts.simplelists.com> On Behalf Of Steve Wright
Sent: Friday, February 7, 2025 3:49 PM
To: PAN Listserv <public_art_network@americansforthearts.simplelists.com>
Subject: unsupervised graff art area at skate park?

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Hello Colleagues,

Does anyone have any experience and advice on encouraging unsupervised graffiti art on designated areas at their local municipal skate park?  Imagine an outer concrete wall at the skate park w/ signage saying "Your graffiti art here" and "please no profanity, gang tags," etc., etc.

Goal is to encourage expression in one designated area, vs. current state where fairly unaesthetic tags are being marked all over the park infrastructure.

We can imagine and could organize a more formal artist-led project, but our Parks & Rec department is also interested in this unsupervised idea above.

Thanks for any experience and advice you can share!

Steve Wright
Public Art Coordinator
Town of Chapel Hill

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Chapel Hill, NC 27514

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