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Graffiti Conference Seeks Public's Help

Graffiti conference seeks public's help
S.F. CRIME
Neal J. Riley
Published 4:51 pm, Thursday, January 17, 2013

Graffiti is a more than $20 million-a-year problem in San Francisco, and though city officials put out a call Thursday to eradicate graffiti blight, there's still disagreement on how vandals should be punished.

At the first Zero Graffiti International Conference, hundreds of people from around the world gathered at St. Mary's Cathedral to discuss fighting graffiti and browse products to take spray paint and markers off any surface.

"Graffiti vandalism is a drain on our city's resources, impacting our neighborhoods and quality of life," said George Gascón, San Francisco's district attorney. "We ask the public to help out by reporting graffiti crime."

Split over penalties

Mohammed Nuru, the Department of Public Works director, said his agency takes an average of 3,000 calls a month about graffiti and has seen an increase in tagging on trees and artists' murals.

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Legal Information

News Articles

19 Jan: BTOY in Paris

We are pleased to announce you that Barcelona based artist Btoy arrived in Paris a couple of days ago and provided us a beautiful selection of original stencils on paper for the show we host on Saturday, January, 19.

INVITATION TO ENCOUNTER

BTOY
Signing + opening

at gallery
OPENSPACE - PARIS
56, rue Alexandre Dumas
75011 Paris, France

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013 From 4pm to 8pm
Exhibition January 19-31, 2013

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In the Galleries

Alcatraz Historical Graffiti Restored

Alcatraz pays tribute to Indian occupation
Carl Nolte
Updated 1:48 pm, Monday, January 14, 2013

The National Park Service does not usually approve of graffiti. "It's a federal offense," said Marcus Koenen, site supervisor for Alcatraz, the former prison that is now part of a national park.

However, the government has made an exception for graffiti left behind during the Indian occupation of the island - and it helped restore signs painted by hand on a landmark water tower.

"PEACE AND FREEDOM WELCOME HOME OF THE FREE INDIAN LAND," the writing says in red letters 4 and 5 feet high.

"We restored it because it has a social significance," Koenen said recently. "It is part of what this park is all about."

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Historical Item

News Articles

Until 24 Jan: Speak Your Peace (SF, CA)

CK1 & Shaghayegh Cyrous are getting up in the gallery right now in preparation for the opening of Speak Your Peace

What: Speak Your Peace exhibition
Where: SOMArts Cultural Center, 934 Brannan St. (between 8th and 9th) San Francisco, CA
When: January 4–24, 2013. Gallery hours: Tuesday–Friday, 12–7pm, and Saturday 12–5pm.
How Much: The exhibition and all accompanying events are free and open to the public.

SOMArts Cultural Center presents Speak Your Peace, a group exhibition open January 4 through 24, 2013, curated by SOMArts’ Curator & Gallery Director Justin Hoover. Opening with a reception on Friday, January 4, 2013, 6–9pm, the exhibition brings together Bay Area-based painters, digital, video and installation artists ranging in age, ethnicity and nationality to explore intercultural communication and social justice and propose new iconographies of peace through visual art.

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In the Galleries

SF's Zero Graffiti Conference Goes International

Back in 2009, San Francisco's DPW held a Zero Graffiti conference. They released a video talking about problems of blight (i.e., graffiti) that cities face across the world. Out of curiosity and continued research on how people interact and react to graffiti, public art, etc., I attended the event. Beyond the government hurrumphing and back patting (for spending millions of dollars to not solve a "problem"), I was impressed by all the statistics that the City government presented that day: stats that showed complaints and arrests (not many arrests) in a zoned SF. There was also talk of new technologies for detecting spray paint on a wall, but I do not know if this has advanced since then.

For 2013, Zero Graffiti has gone international. They are bringing in people from Canada and elsewhere in the USA to talk about tactics and means to eradicate graffiti. While the last event was free, this one is not. I saw a few artists in the mix at the first conference (where about 100 total people attended, mostly working with government agencies), mostly seeking legal walls to spray on. I doubt anyone who is not an abatement professional will attend the upcoming conference, which carries a $289 price tag (that includes "city-wide tours").

While the last conference had no sponsors, this one has at least a dozen, including the Academy of Art. I guess we now know where this art school stands on zero graffiti. Conference topics will include "Catching the Graffiti Vandal", "Best Use of Volunteers", and "Using Technology and Social Media".

Since I frequently post legal articles, documents, ordinances, etc. that pertain to potential and alleged illegal public placement of pigment and media, I felt that it is fair to post this new and much larger conference that is dedicated to "stopping urban blight." And, as I've stated many times, in public, GOOD LUCK WITH THAT!

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Legal Information

Peat in Vegas

I tease for EYEZ FANZ....

THE EYEZ will be invading Las Vasas at the end February 2012. The Show will be at Get-Up Gallery inside the Emergency Arts Center. Let roll Snake EYEZ! 520 Fremont Street Las Vegas, NV 89101 Located Inside Of Emergency Arts Phone: 702-529-3330 info@getupgallery.com http://getupgallery.com/

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In the Galleries

Banksy's Haight St. Rat Turns Up in Miami

I sell a rat

By caitlin
Created 12/18/2012 - 6:02pm
Public street art as private purchase? Banksy's Haight Street rat turns up in Miami

STREET SEEN Like many of his Bay Area art world peers, the beret-wearing rat that Banksy stenciled on the side of Haight Street's Red Victorian hotel in 2010 was in Miami for Art Basel week.

But sadly, our stenciled friend wasn't available for air-kisses. The rodent-adorned chunk of wall hung behind a velvet rope and its own security guard in the VIP lounge at Context, a new-this-year contemporary wing of the sprawling Art Miami art fair.

The rodent was one of five reappropriated Banksy walls being shown in an exhibition that was controversial even by the standards of Basel week's art-star-big-money whirligig. A local weekly newspaper helpfully pointed out that the wheelings-and-dealings in Miami during Basel involve art worth roughly the GDP of Guyana. (Check out the Guardian's Pixel Vision blog for our full report on the week's best showings, scenes, stilettos.)