A NEW ART CENTRE FOR THE GRAFFITI ARTISTS OF MOUNT DRUITT

By Eliesse Rodger

The local community of Mount Druitt, located in Western Sydney, has been constantly targeted with teenage graffiti vandals that have taken to making it their hobby of defacing private property of the newly built apartments at Mount Druitt Station. Tags, spray cans and paint balls are most commonly used by them to create some form of eye catching ‘designs’ to passers by, causing great commotion about the safety and public amenity of Mount Druitt and well as the formation of negative perceptions focused on the citizens of the town made by new visitors. This has become such a big issue on the town, which only one solution can be made. It is a simple, yet effective, solution to this blood-boiling issue — opening up a public, government funded, local art centre for those artists who have nothing better to do than ‘express themselves’ on whatever building they can find.

For the past 20 years, graffiti has evolved from being a form of expressive art to a form of illegal vandalism. It has become extremely popular amongst youths and young adults as a sign of boredom or a way to develop an adrenaline rush. Graffiti has become an issue that generates widespread community concern. It impacts state and territory governments, local governments, police, public transport, utility providers, and more significantly local communities. It is regarded by many sectors of the community to be unsightly and represents a threat to quality of life and community security. Graffiti is one of the most visible forms of crime and disorder that occurs in a community and as such can become a visible sign of unruliness, social decline and antisocial behaviour, particularly amongst teens. It also has an affect on the long-term viability of businesses and investment property in the sectors that are heavily affected. Finding ways to address this issue has become long-standing, partly due to the fact that is has become a great phenomenon and continues to maintain its popularity.

Graffiti is a complex social issue with a wide range of perspectives and conflicting interests between different sections of the community on its values. Part of the issue comes with the idea that graffiti has a status of being associated with criminal activity, causing the differences between graffiti and art to slowly blur. In developing prevention strategies, it is best to understand the many different types of graffiti art there are, such as that of tagging, table graffiti, gang-related graffiti, political/ protest graffiti, and urban art, which can sometimes be legal with permission. Most of the time, graffiti is done as a way to gain notoriety, a way for people to bond, creates group identity, peer recognition and status. It provides opportunity for people to participate in a public conversation or debate, and can be strategic or territorial. It also communicates a different or opposing viewpoint, such as challenging political orders, and can also be seen as an international contemporary art movement.

Estimating the cost of graffiti, however, is mind-blowing; particularly to that of the state government, service providers, local governments, businesses and private property owners. Graffiti contributes to lost revenue mainly accompanied with reduced customers on transit systems, reduced retail sales and decline of property value. So the amount spent, or lost, on the removal is approximately $30 million per year, money that could potentially benefit more important issues. The penalty for graffiti crimes itself, if caught, can range from conducting a clean up, paying money to the person with which the property was defaced, or paying a fine as high as $2,500.

Having said all that, building a local art centre for the community of Mount Druitt would change the lives of many people — not just the graffiti artists themselves, but also those who feel victimized. It would be located near Westfield Mount Druitt and would be a government funded centre, with the money from the removal of graffiti being used instead to supply and run this organization — leading to a lot tax payers money being saved. Along with this comes reduced tax money spent on jail time and catching vandals. It also provides safety and assurance for the community, as this centre could potentially stop the act and make the streets of Mount Druitt cleaner and well kept, as well as change the profile of the community significantly. It also would be a place where young teenagers and adults have the freedom to express themselves in a way they wouldn’t had otherwise or without having to run at the first sign of police. It would be an environment that allows for comfortable social status without having too prove their own personal worth and a place to express ones creativity and relieve stress.

Graffiti is based on emotions. This centre can help people refresh their minds via the colourful and bold techniques employed — some even researchers say colours are useful for stress relief, and thus are good for the soul. It also would help to increase their creativity by drawing or painting something that is useful to others while also developing a ‘sense of art’.

This centre can also give opportunities to aspiring artists to make income from their works. Hosting exhibitions and competitions, for example, get not only gains profit for the centre, but also changes the way graffiti is portrayed amongst the people of Mount Druitt and Western Sydney. Artists, or ‘bombers’, also have the opportunity to work together, share ideas, bond, have fun, and most importantly, get them off the streets and doing something useful. The problem with art in the 21st century is the notion that it is sometimes just not seen, usually based on the lack of interest from people, especially the younger generations. Teens generally do not go to museums and art exhibitions because usually it is ‘too old’ for their liking. However, this centre brings together and centres on the life and interests of younger people with which they can easily relate. Thus, bringing art back to the public.

In conclusion, graffiti is an art that is highly misunderstood and neglected. Teenagers of Mount Druitt have long been searching for a place to fit in and this art centre would be the place for them. It not only stops the constant spread of graffiti, saves money, and educates young people, but it also brings together a sense of community and pride amongst the people — which unfortunately the community of Mount Druitt is currently lacking.