Ravens' View

Welcome to my blog

I wear many hats.

I've worked for many years to preserve and promote graffiti as a valid urban art form, to address the mindset that sees it as just vandalism. From my initial photography of graffiti murals I've developed more interests and links in the culture of Hip-hop, and now volunteer in several youth-related areas.

One area is running Community CAVE (Ottawa), as a board member of the main  group from Toronto. We use graffiti murals as a tool to link together local graffiti artists, business owners, and residents in a community - with the aim of transforming it into a cleaner and more socially connected neighbourhood. And of course, with tagged walls replaced by mural art. I've worked on some projects with Const. Scott Mills of Toronto Crimestoppers, he uses graff art as a way to reach youth and show them they can be valued members of the community. He documents a lot of his work on YouTube, at Legalgraffitiart.

I'm also associated with the group Sketch here in Orleans. Our mission is to enable and empower local youth to create "somewhere to go, something to do". I've coordinated the graffiti portion of several of their events, and am on the board to help with strategic planning.

For general GRAFFITI info - various mural/youth projects, Ottawa graffiti bylaws, and comments from various supporters- look via my blog's Graffiti category on the left, or click here. I also keep an eye out for positive articles on graffiti, murals, and legal walls, and then add the links to a separate page here.

I've added a "how-to" guide here for those interested in running a community transformation event with youth, residents, and business owners. If you'd like my assistance on this, email me. I also have a slide presentation I can give to groups, on graffiti terms, styles, and murals, that is illustrated with many photos from my files.

 Speaking of which, if you're looking for my pictures, they're in some sets over on Flickr.

 

I've sets of pictures on Flickr on such topics as:

• graffiti from Ottawa, Toronto in general, Toronto Keele area, Halifax and Gatineau
• breakdancing, as well as Capoeira and other dance
• the latest House of Paint event - and earlier ones
• DJ's from DMC Canada national's
• Broadcast Lane Transformation, and the Kensington one
• Gay Pride parade and festival here in Ottawa

For the graffiti shots, if it's your art, or you know whose it is - please let me know and I'll gladly add the credit. Comments welcome.

I'm also on Facebook, to connect with some of the groups I work with, and update them on related graffiti news and opportunities. I'm admin for an Ottawa Graffiti group there too.  

Finally, if you are looking for information on Quality Assurance, or Quality Management principles, click here.

Inspiration: Street Art, Murals, and Graffiti - PSDTUTS

Inspiration: Street Art, Murals, and Graffiti - PSDTUTS.

Inspiration: Street Art, Murals, and Graffiti In Inspiration by Sean Hodge Let's jump into some street art tutorials from Computer Arts and other sources that will have you creating very cool digital murals and graffiti in Photoshop. We'll take a look a handful of articles that showcase multiple inspirational graffiti artists work. We'll also look at some additional groups, resources, and graffiti style freebies. Let's look at graffiti artists in action and their digital production techniques.

Positive articles on graff, murals, legal walls

Police, city staff, removal companies - all seem to have lots of negative material on graffiti, murals, and legal walls. Often it's years old, or from a very different environment, or just plain biased.

To try to balance this I've been monitoring the media online for a while, looking for a postive slant, and posting links on a few of articles in here, or on Facebook.

Previous links were collected in this post, but I have now set up a separate blog so that I can easily post in a separate space all the articles that I find. You can set up an RSS feed from it, or just check back. Or watch my Facebook newsfeed for some of them.

Transforming a community - a makeover show

There are several approaches being used to try to "manage" unwanted graffiti. Many of them are confrontational, such as more police, more jails, bans on carrying spray cans or markers, and neighbourhood vigilantes.

I have worked for several years with various groups on a cooperative approach that use graffiti style urban art as a tool to "transform" a community, physically as well as socially.

The initiative will focus on a neglected back alley for example, full of garbage, unwanted tagging, weeds, and broken bottles - an area that tends to attract drunks and drug users, an area that the local residents are afraid to walk through unless it's broad daylight. Residents, owners, and local youth are brought together to work on the project, cleaning up the area, re-priming walls, adding colourful art murals, and even planting a few vines. The immediate results of this collaborative effort are a cleaner area that all can be proud of, and greatly reduced tagging, longer lasting results include stronger social bonds in the community through working together, communicating, and gaining an understanding of the different cultures of each group. In addition, the people using the alley are now residents and the occasional tourist with a camera, or maybe even community group tours.

I've been working on these projects in Toronto with Community CAVE (Communities Advancing Valued Environments), Const. Scott Mills of Crimestoppers, and Janna van Hoof of Style in Progress. In addition, Sketch Orleans, a local youth group here in Ottawa, has been a valuable ally. Each of these have a slightly different approach, complementing each other, so I had been trying to merge these into a "how-to" document to take to communities. Scott Mills suggested I pull this all together into a guide, that he would then forward for inclusion into the Ontario School Resource Officer manual. This manual is used both as a course manual and a reference guide by police forces across Ontario, and is also part of the reference of other groups, such as the RCMP.

We completed this a few months ago, and sent it in for the manual.  I have included a copy of the guide here for interested communities and leaders to use, with some minor tweaks to the original, mainly to add clarity or examples. If you would like I can help guide you through the process, or you can use it on your own. I just ask that you give a credit to me for the guide, and especially that you give me feedback on projects you do with it. Send me comments, suggestions, corrections, concerns, before and after photos of your makeover, links to local articles or your community site, samples of letters and forms you devised. I'll try to incorporate it all into this site and the guide as a reference for all.

OSRO_manual_graff_by_Mike_Young_scott_ver_4.pdf

Urban Arts Forum - update

I attended this last year, and did a post on it. After the event I tried to get a committee together of some key people in urban arts to follow up and keep the momentum going, we exchanged some enthusiastic emails and had a good meeting. The problem with key people is that they often ar already spending all their free time on their passion, to work more on something like this would mean to give up some of the things they are already doing.

What got me thinking on this again was a request by a New York journalist, editor of The New Agenda magazine. The editor had seen my post and was looking for input for a follow up article on the forum. I sent an email with responses to the questions, and then decided to post my responses here too. Basically, was a nice idea, no planned follow through, so not much progress.

Here's my response....

All good questions – I wonder what the GG’s response to them would be? Not some staff member – what were her specific measurable objectives for the year for this and why does she feel they were met? What were her lesson’s learned, what would SHE want to do different next time?

The event itself went well, we saw lots of good sharing of ideas; a great photo op; lots of people feeling good; vague words like empowerment, synergy, dialogue; an extensive exchange of gripes and suggestions; some fun entertainment; lots of networking between people. After that – not sure on the results.

I tried to start an Ottawa urban arts committee with some key people that were there that I know, but  they have day jobs and lots of arts stuff underway already. I’m retired but still have many things on the go too – my time is still valuable to me. Bottom line is no one had much time to meet up or work on this, so after a few months of emails nothing more has happened..

 I’ll answer your questions:

-  What for you has been the most noticeable effect of the GG's urban arts program?

I’m not sure if there was any long term effect. I would suspect if we had another forum there would be many of  the same issues and concerns. I’m sure some would talk about great steps made, but I suspect they would be hard pressed to quote specific results traceable to the forums. There is an on line site for discussion, but it seems just another site with a wide range of grand topics, lots of comments and “me-too” posts, but few suggestions.

I checked the blog just now, and I see there was a mentor/mentoree program matching several Order of Canada members and youth – one on one. Looks nice, but I’m not sure if these were activities the youth already had underway. Or if these initiatives were  was part of the goals/objectives coming from the forums. Why were these Order of Canada members particularly suited to this?

- What was it like for you to participate in the forums?

It was great to be at the forum itself – to hear that many had the same frustrations and concerns that I had, and to meet old friends, make new ones.

 And what do you think should be the next step for the forums? (Should they be expanded? Ended? Be done one an even larger scale?)

Expanded? Not as is. Deleted? Likely, if the same format.

I’m big on quality management, I believe in long term goals and specific short term measurable objectives. As in “why are we doing this, and how will we know if we were successful?”. I didn’t see that.

I would suggest at the next meeting that the role of the GG’s office would be, after providing an open forum for all to meet and vent, to facilitate the “what’s next” stage. At the forum, with everyone there, pick a prime and 2-3 helpers that are all willing to put in a few hours a week/month on it, and help them pick 2-3 objectives (specific, measurable) for the year.  Pick some relevant ways to communicate – like SMS messages, Facebook, YouTube. Have a presence at urban art events throughout the year, to show what’s happened so far, and get more ideas.

And do all this with the understanding that this is only a start, it doesn’t have to have everyone’s idea in it at first, some issues can wait. It’s better to start small and have some successes to build on than flounder with to large a scope and too many people. If more insist on their objectives being added, AND will guarantee some time – fine. They can be on the list to be added later, once things get rolling.  Then the next year each group – and the GG – would know where they had been, and where they were now. .

- Have the urban arts forums inspired a new acceptance of hip hop and other art forms into the Canadian mainstream?

I don’t think so, I think that has been done mostly by the events we were all doing anyways, like Stephen Leafloor’s hip-hop workshops in the north, and the annual  House of Paint festival here in Ottawa.

- Have they inspired a new sense of Canadian patriotism or national unity (bridging the solitudes)?

Are you serious? The issues were youth and the arts – if anything the two solitudes are young artists and “the establishment”.

 Hope that helps. I apologize if I sound cynical at times, but my expectation is that if people are asked to come to these events and share concerns and ideas, then there should be a framework that values their input and time and helps them to create concrete results.

Mike

Art by the highway

Just posting this here so I can link a reminder to local artists to it.

There's a long sound barrier along Hwy 174 in Orleans, on your right just before Place D'Orleans. It was tagged years agoo, then painted with birds and flowers. And, after a few years - tagged again. Our councillor Bob Monette would like to have it repainted - this time with a number of the 9x8 foot panels in a graff art style. Some money for materials, and the chance to do a nice piece at your leisure, in the day. And have everyone check it out as they ride by on the bus.

They want each piece to somehow work in a reference to an Orleans landmark. Deadline for a sketch is July 31 - or at least call them by then to say you're interested. Contact is Christina Franc 613-580-2424 ext 12584

Here's more info Download Call_out_to_all_artists.doc (28.0K)

Graffiti and vandalism

I don’t think all illegal graffiti is vandalism, and by extension, that all illegal graffiti artists are vandals.

It may seem like that in the eyes of an property owner, but for the most part the work is NOT done with the intent to deface or destroy something. It’s with the intent to add the artist's view of art, whether it’s some colourful bubble letters or a more elaborate piece.  If someone scribbles a tag on a storefront, or throws a can of paint on a back wall – I would consider that vandalism. If instead they do a mural or even a stencil of a happy face on that back wall – it’s still can be illegal, but I won’t label it as vandalism, not in my point of view.

When a transformation project is done to clean up a community one element is communication between youth and residents, so they each learn to appreciate (or at least understand) the others point of view. 

 My approach has always been to focus on the artistic aspect, which has helped me to build some rapport and trust within the graffiti culture and the rest of the hip-hop community. This enables me to talk with not only confirmed legal mural artists, but also those that are on the fence.

I admit that there are some that dislike legal walls, that believe that legal graffiti is an oxymoron - that's OK.

Orleans Graffiti Art (GART) and Art in the Park

A couple of local events...

July 5, 2008 - Sketch Orleans, in partnership with CAVE Ottawa and Orleans Auto Tech, held their first Graffiti Art day – GART. Several local graffiti artists showed up to paint on the seven 4x8 ft panels, and the owner of the business has selected two to do a large mural on the 40 foot wall of his business. He’s tired of repeatedly priming over tags, he would prefer to beautify the wall – and his community –with a mural. This property is next to Place D’Orleans mall, so managed to attract both youth and adults. We had about 40 stop by to watch, to ask abot the concept, even to try their hand at a bit of painting. Thanks again to ICI paints for the primer, and Norml Clothing for a great price on spray cans. For more info see the news release or the leaflet for the event. For photos of the event click here.

July 19, 2008   Art in the Park :  This activity will be held July 19, in  Fallingbrook  Park, off of Princess Louise drive.  It is organized by Events by Natasha.  Sketch, as a partner with Community CAVE (Ottawa), will have a presence/visibility at the event.  This is a collection of art vendors – we will not be selling anything, but will have two youth that were at GART work on two 4x8 panels, doing a demonstration of letters and artistic elements. We will be explaining our same concepts, such as of youth as urban artists, and handing out some leaflets with more information. We’ll also will have a third panel for anyone to try out their style.  Click here  for more info on the event.

 

 

Happy Birthday to me

Another year - time flies when you're retired. Never a dull moment, always lots of sparkly things to follow. Am I keeping busy? No - I don't have to be busy, just amused. Life is here to enjoy, and to make whatever positive contribution we can to it.

I was asked if I was doing something special for my birthday, and couldn't think of anything. I usually do special things whenever the spirit moves me, rather than wait for a particular day. A drizzly day, good for a walk with an umbrella, soaking in the smell of squished worms.And some photo editing, have lots form Style in Progress last weekend in Toronto. I'll meet Matt and Meaghan and my little grandson Noah for dinner tonight - that will be special. And will hook up with my daughter sometime.

I did buy myself a nice present, a piece by local artist Daser. He's done graffiti for years, some beautiful mural work, and also does canvases. I'll add it to my collection of graff art. I have 6 pieces by local artists so far - Daser, Aspire, and Maki - all up on my walls along with some of my graff photos and a lot of watercolours by my mom.

It has been a good year - health is OK, some aches and pains, in reasonable shape still, have loved and lost (better to have ...). More graff promotion - working with youth, helping at a few events, articles in papers and quoted on TV, and of course tons of pictures. And respect for it all from the urban arts community. I plan on more of the same, will keep stretching myself a bit.