Neighborhood Art Project

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the changing graffiti culture in the city (the gist: post 9/11 security + gentrification= a tough time for taggers). Over the summer, Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham kicked off a wall mural program, which would designate graffiti-targeted spaces in the city as places for murals. Over the summer, two murals were completed in Ward 1. Now, the program is going citywide, and the Department of Public Works is soliciting suggestions for good project spaces. Currently, the Murals DC program has a $100,000 budget. Coordinator Hallie Clemm says painting won’t begin until spring at the earliest. Thus far, she’s received two applications. Here’s part of the form.

The Murals DC program will replace illegal graffiti with murals inspired, designed and painted by neighborhood young people. These young artists will develop murals in consultation with professional muralists and with the approval of the business / home owner. The Department of Public Works and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities is seeking assistance in identifying spaces that may be eligible for a mural. Criteria for the pilot year of the program include:

* Spaces that are privately owned, where the owner has expressed interest in program;
* Spaces that have chronic graffiti problems;
* Spaces that are highly visible from street

The entire form can be found here.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 29th, 2007 at 11:23 am and is filed under Arts, Graffiti, Jim Graham, Neighborhoods. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.