Group documents graffiti in LR
Creation of database, MuralFest among preventive steps
Little Rock resident got so fed up with the graffiti that he thinks plagues the city that he created his own Facebook group documenting the issue — one of the only groups of its kind in the state.
“I started Little Rock Graffiti Database as a place to document the scale of the graffiti problem … and to empower residents to identify and document graffiti,” said Michael Bynum, the group’s founder. “… I wanted to bring awareness to the impact that graffiti has on our city’s quality of life. …”
Parts of Little Rock are consistently tagged with graffiti, and it can take time for these tags to be removed. Residents, like Bynum, often find graffiti unattractive and troublesome.
Bynum doesn’t think that graffiti itself is problematic, but he believes the effect it can have on an area and private owners is — especially when it’s done without the community in mind.
“Cities need clean, safe, and welcoming public spaces to form strong community bonds. Graffiti, like trash and rundown buildings, give residents and visitors the impression that certain areas aren’t safe or worth visiting, even when the opposite is true,” he said. “This results in missed economic and social opportunities.” To him, this issue is solvable, particularly if the community is willing to do the heavy lifting necessary to solve vandalism. In his opinion, however, there is no single solution.
“The bottom line is that unwanted graffiti has to be cleaned up. It is continuous and hard work, but it’s worth it from an economic and quality-of-life standpoint,”
he said. “Little Rock can get a handle on graffiti if the whole community comes together.”
Bynum represents a group of people who think graffiti is not street art and has no place in our communities. Others, though, don’t find it as irritating and they see the artistic merit in it. Opposition to and rules preventing graffiti open the door for murals and other kinds of planned street art.
“Murals can be helpful tools with positive benefits …” he said. “Instead of using punitive measures like the criminal justice system, we need to involve these young [people] in the conversation about how we use our public spaces. That can turn a community problem into a cultural opportunity.”
The Downtown Little Rock Partnership is trying to create attractive spaces downtown and prevent graffiti by doing exactly that. Multiple murals are planned for downtown Little Rock and most of them include input from area artists and the community.
Their upcoming MuralFest, planned for May 4 at noon, will paint an alley in the SoMa neighborhood. The alley is behind the building where the Bagel Shop, Tea Capital and other shops are located.
Kyle Leyenberger, a spokesperson from the event, said that this day was chosen so the event could happen in tandem with 501 Fest, a block party on South Main Street with live music and other activities. It’s modeled after similar events, like one in Memphis.
“Curbing graffiti isn’t necessarily our main goal. Our goal is to create cool spaces for people to experience downtown,” he said. “Curbing graffiti is an added benefit. People who are tagging things are street artists too. It’s not encouraged to put something over a piece of art.”
The alley will be split by eight local artists who will paint the walls in their own unique style. Mural painting on May 4 will be a public event where people can come watch the art be installed.
Currently, the alley is covered with graffiti, some of it vulgar. The hope is that putting art there will signal to others that the spot is taken. Several artists indicated that it is an unspoken rule that you don’t tag the art of others.
One of the artists involved in MuralFest is Lisa Krannichfeld. She has experience painting murals in downtown Little Rock and North Little Rock and is excited for the opportunity to paint another.
According to Krannichfeld, a Little Rock native and full-time artist, mural painting is a unique experience.
“Most muralists have to work with a property owner or a city or a business owner to come up with a joint plan,” she said “When you’re just an artist working in your studio you get to do whatever you want. You don’t have to work with other entities.”
“Of course, the scale is a lot different. You’ll have to plan how to get your design on the wall which is a beast all on its own,” she said. “I’ve needed a scissor lift for both murals I’ve done, but some artists use ladders or scaffolding.”
Despite some of the difficulties, Krannichfeld says that mural painting is still an enjoyable experience and she looks forward to painting more murals in the future.
To Krannichfeld, there is a notable difference between graffiti and street art, even though she doesn’t think graffiti is inherently bad.
“The main difference is that street art is usually multiple entities working together to come up with a plan. Therefore, it’s more curated for a public audience to view it,” she said.
“Graffiti is more self-serving for whoever is making it. It isn’t really made to be consumed by the public,” she said. “I am not a person who hates graffiti. I think a blank wall is the real enemy. Some graffiti is really awesome.”
“Graffiti artists are creative people, and I think if you have more opportunities for those creative people to paint something in a socially acceptable and legal way, then there would be even better street art,” she said.
The solution, according to Krannichfeld, is more art.
“Creative people just want to be creative. So they’re going to be creative whether you let them or you don’t let them,” she said.
The two murals that Krannichfeld painted have never been defaced. She thinks that those who graffiti are generally respectful of art.
Roland Burnham, another central Arkansas artist and the creator of the beloved Balstovitch murals, is more pessimistic. Having his Balstovitch murals vandalized multiple times over the years has left him cynical.
He was clear that his Balstovitch murals were street art, not graffiti. The ultimate goal for him was to show people this creature and create a sense of wonderment, not just tag stuff.
“Graffiti is usually gang stuff or someone’s imagination making up words,” he said. “It’s just a bunch of scribbles that only mean something to the person who put it up there. That’s what graffiti is to me.”
“Some of it’s really art, some of it’s really graffiti and some of it’s a mix. But I have strong opinions about graffiti. None of it really appeals to me,” he said.
He recognized the merit in some of it, though.
“If it’s incorporated with some kind of artistic element then maybe [the person] is progressing. Maybe they’ve always had an artistic streak,” he said. “Some street art may incorporate graffiti elements.”
In his experience, murals are not the most effective way to curb graffiti.
“I’ve been doing this for 46 years and everything I’ve done has been attacked by lesser talent. There are people who don’t like what I do, so they put markings over it,” he said. “I’ve grown accustomed to it.”
Jon Wickliffe, a concerned resident and one of the more active individuals on the Facebook group, thinks graffiti takes a toll on the community, unlike art.
“I do not correlate art with graffiti. The graffiti that I’m talking about is vandalism. I’m talking about when people go and paint something on a piece of property that does not belong to them,” he said. “That’s my definition of it because I appreciate art and artists.”
“I’m in an office building downtown, and in the past we have had people paint things on the building. It wasn’t welcomed and the city threatened to give a fine to the gentleman who owns the building,” said Wickliffe. “It just doesn’t look good.”
Wickliffe appreciates murals and what they do for a space.
“You see murals downtown at the River Market and downtown that are beautiful. That are commissioned by the city or the property owner,” he said. “I think people appreciate what art is and something that’s beautiful. People won’t try to destroy that.”
“Curbing graffiti isn’t necessarily our main goal. Our goal is to create cool spaces for people to experience downtown. Curbing graffiti is an added benefit.”
— Kyle Leyenberger, spokesperson for MuralFest