The city is proposing a new solution to Toronto's graffiti problem -- one that appeases both street artists and property owners. CP24.com's Paul Johnston takes a closer look at the issue.
Be ready to run.
That's what I'm told with the utmost sincerity as we head into a back alleyway off Dundas Street in Little Portugal.
Backpacks and bags are dropped as a spot is picked out.
There seems to have been little pre-thought given to the location we've picked, and conversation has been limited as we've walked up the street.
Two people stand post on the entranceways to the adjacent alley.
Can in hand, the outline goes up quickly. It's started to rain lightly and I wondered if it would affect the process at all.
Ready to run, I put my dictaphone away.
Just twenty minutes earlier, I was sitting with this graffiti artist at a neighbourhood bar.
‘Smug' is his street name, though he gave it to himself more because of a mistake than because of his attitude.
"I was trying to write smog, because I thought that was really cool," he said between sips of beer. "But since I didn't know what the f--- I was doing, the 'o' ended up looking like a 'u.'"
Now in his early 20s, Smug has being honing his art - writing as it's known in graffiti circles - over the last six years since seeing a piece of graffiti on the wall of his Toronto high school in Grade 10.
Since then, he estimates he has put up more than 100 pieces across the city. Over those six years he has been caught several times - arrested and charged. He has spent nights in a holding cell and has been to court.
The City of Toronto's Graffiti Bylaw, adopted in February 2006, prohibits graffiti, which is defined as "one or more letters, symbols, figures, etchings, scratches, inscriptions, stains or other markings that disfigure or deface a structure or thing, howsoever made or otherwise affixed on the structure of a thing, but, for greater certainty, does not include an art mural."
The term ‘art mural' is key in the bylaw, because it is exempted.
Art murals are defined as "a mural for a designated surface and location that has been deliberately implemented for the purpose of beautifying the specific location." This distinction has created a myriad of problems as city hall officials, business owners, artists and others try and determine under the framework what constitutes art and what constitutes vandalism, and to find a long-term solution that all sides can support.
http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110629/110629_graffiti_feature/20110629/?hub=CP24Home
Be ready to run.
That's what I'm told with the utmost sincerity as we head into a back alleyway off Dundas Street in Little Portugal.
Backpacks and bags are dropped as a spot is picked out.
There seems to have been little pre-thought given to the location we've picked, and conversation has been limited as we've walked up the street.
Two people stand post on the entranceways to the adjacent alley.
Can in hand, the outline goes up quickly. It's started to rain lightly and I wondered if it would affect the process at all.
Ready to run, I put my dictaphone away.
Just twenty minutes earlier, I was sitting with this graffiti artist at a neighbourhood bar.
‘Smug' is his street name, though he gave it to himself more because of a mistake than because of his attitude.
"I was trying to write smog, because I thought that was really cool," he said between sips of beer. "But since I didn't know what the f--- I was doing, the 'o' ended up looking like a 'u.'"
Now in his early 20s, Smug has being honing his art - writing as it's known in graffiti circles - over the last six years since seeing a piece of graffiti on the wall of his Toronto high school in Grade 10.
Since then, he estimates he has put up more than 100 pieces across the city. Over those six years he has been caught several times - arrested and charged. He has spent nights in a holding cell and has been to court.
The City of Toronto's Graffiti Bylaw, adopted in February 2006, prohibits graffiti, which is defined as "one or more letters, symbols, figures, etchings, scratches, inscriptions, stains or other markings that disfigure or deface a structure or thing, howsoever made or otherwise affixed on the structure of a thing, but, for greater certainty, does not include an art mural."
The term ‘art mural' is key in the bylaw, because it is exempted.
Art murals are defined as "a mural for a designated surface and location that has been deliberately implemented for the purpose of beautifying the specific location." This distinction has created a myriad of problems as city hall officials, business owners, artists and others try and determine under the framework what constitutes art and what constitutes vandalism, and to find a long-term solution that all sides can support.
http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110629/110629_graffiti_feature/20110629/?hub=CP24Home
