Activism Through Graffiti in Tel Aviv

Photo collection of social activism through street art in Florentine, Tel Aviv:

Translates to “No Children, No Terror Attacks”

Link:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/telavivstreetart/

The compliment guys!

These two fine gentlemen are the Purdue "Compliment Guys". (Click on the picture for the full article.)

Their mission: to compliment everyone that walks by them and brighten their day.
Their purpose: not girls, or money, or fame, just the hope that they can spread a little joy in a time of economic depression.

When I read this article I couldn't help but smile. So clearly their project is working! On the surface it may not seem like this article has much to do with the goal of the arts and culture group, but I think it would be interesting to see if what these two guys are doing could be applied to different situations. For example, what if instead of having "compliment guys" on a college campus, there could be a group of people outside of the soup kitchen giving compliments, or maybe in one of the more impoverished neighborhoods of Philadelphia. Would a group of happy compliment givers have their comments taken at face value, or has the world become so cynical that even a simple compliment wouldn't be received well? I'm not sure, but I think it might make for some interesting performance art.

CORNBREAD

Darryl “Cornbread” McCray is a former Philadelphia graffiti artist who gained notoriety for spraying his logo across the city from the late 1960s to early 1970s. Now a mild-mannered arts advocate, McCray is appalled by the evolution of graffiti as an art to a form of vandalism. It was in the 1980s when McCray realized how spray paint and vandalism left Philadelphia a mess. McCray helped clean-up his city by becoming a member of Mayor Wilson Goode’s former Anti-Graffiti Network. Since this time, McCray has become an avid supporter of the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, and works as a public speaker for this cause.

Jon E. Bekken, chairman of Albright College’s communications department realized McCray’s value as a knowledgeable expert in street art and invited the artist to speak at the school. “I’m interested in a wide range of communications, in particular in ways in which people who don’t have access to media outlets try to get a voice,” Bekken said. McCray gave some pointers to prospective taggers of the college: “If you’ve got the talent to do graffiti, you can get paid for it. But don’t go out and vandalize.”

[“Cornbread” in the 1960s]

SOURCES:

http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=79200

http://wallstreetmeeting.de/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/cornbread.jpg

http://www.egodesign.ca/_files/articles/blocks/2649_cornbread.jpg

BANKSY

As an oft controversial, bold, and somewhat anonymous artist, Robin Banks (better known as Banksy) is England’s premier graffiti artist. Banksy’s art is displayed with guerilla-like tactics, astonishing the unknowing public. He is also world-renowned for his “headline-making stunts” which include leaving an inflatable doll (which was dressed as a Guantanamo prisoner) at Disneyland in California. Always provocative, Banksy even has a few celebrity collectors, such as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. The most prevalent theme in Banksy’s work is his attempts to provoke the audience to think abstractly and away from the norm.

SOURCE:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1034538/Graffiti-artist-Banksy-unmasked---public-schoolboy-middle-class-suburbia.html

JOSE CLEMENTE OROZCO by Jay Burnham

Jose Clemente Orozco (1883-1949) was a well-known Mexican muralist and political cartoonist of the first half of the 20^th century. As he grew up in Mexico City, Orozco discovered his passion for art. From 1910-1916, Orozco worked as a cartoonist for the magazine El Hijo de Ahuizote where he expressed a great deal of social commentary regarding the Mexican Revolution. By the 1920s, Orozco had found his preferred medium in murals. Though, his commentary was still abundant. His political commentary expanded from the Revolution to his concerns about dehumanization through technology and the changing of morals Orozco witnessed.

HISPANO-AMERICA (1934) is one of Orozco’s murals which frames a Latin-American peasent using his (human) rights to protest imperialist oppression.

SOURCES:

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~library/Orozco/part2.html

http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/305-tragedy-and-triumph-the-drama-of-jose-clemente-orozco-1883–1949

Orozco, Jose Clemente: An Autobiography

Art For Social Change –- A Website

www.artforsocialchange.net is a world-wide project initiated by Dutch artist Rini Hartman. The site expresses the goals of the program:

“A belief in cultural and creative expressionism as a means to affect deep and lasting social change. Through art, we can challenge many of our society’s deepest assumptions, built upon the power of artistic creation and expression to:

*Spark new ideas

*Catalyze critical thinking

*Elicit new actions

*Inspire individuals

*And create visions

Art becomes a political act, a conscious effort to facilitate and participate in social change. If we want respect, love and beauty among us and others, we must actively promote it through our art.

This site shows different ways of using art, which may inspire you.”

8 VISIONS OF HOPE

At the 2000 United Nations Millennium Summit, 189 world leaders signed onto the Millennium Declaration and agreed to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). MDGs was initiated as a way to set goals to improve the lives of the world’s poorest people. Rini Hartman created the 8 VISIONS OF HOPE project to create awareness of MDGs. 8 Visions of Hope often approaches subjects such as poverty and human rights.

Grafitti artists against poverty

Montana shop and charity organization “Petits Riens/Spullenhulp” invited Blancbec, Hell’o Monsters, Pae 86, Bue, End, Nico, Whitecat and Polak to decorate those boxes where people can give clothes they are not wearing anymore. This “Peau Neuve / Nieuw Kleedje” campaign is intended to make people conscious of the fact that more and more young adults (18-24 years old) are homeless these days.

http://www.laid-back.be/blog/?p=272

Art Education Research

So how do they fund their program?
And I had no idea what an amazing and extensive program they have. Collaboration with them, when a more cohesive program is set up would be very beneficial.

I found a link were you can donate to the sight and I also emailed the head of the Art Education Program's at Mural Arts and asked her a few questions about how they got started and how they were funded etc.. so we'll see if I get an email back. 

http://www.muralarts.org/getinvolved/gift.php

Art Education Research

The Mural Arts Program of Philadelphia

In Philadelphia opportunities for young people to participate in the arts have steadily diminished in recent years. Renewed focus on core curriculum, the pressures of high-stakes testing, and other funding priorities have left arts programs in public schools vulnerable. As a result, hundreds of schools in Philadelphia have no full-time art teacher and many of Philadelphia's youth are without positive and structured after-school activities.

The Mural Arts Program is filling this void through a variety of targeted art education programs including Big Picture, Mural Corps and ArtWorks!. These programs not only teach mural-making and other fundamental art skills, but inspire students to become artists, organizers, and leaders in their communities. Through these programs, we serve close to 2,000 youth at over 50 neighborhood sites in Philadelphia.

http://www.muralarts.org/whatwedo/arted/