Is graffiti an ugly eyesore or legitimate art?

Photo by David Luttrell/Knoxville Magazine

Graffiti near Market Square in downtown Knoxville.

Photo by David Luttrell/Knoxville Magazine

Downtown Knoxville's Central Business Improvement District encourages citizens who see graffiti on buildings to quickly call 311 and report it, thereby increasing the likelihood that the owners can be notified.

Photo by David Luttrell/Knoxville Magazine

Graffiti near Market Square in downtown Knoxville.

Photo by David Luttrell/Knoxville Magazine

An example of Brian Pittman's intricate black-marked cathedrals on plywood window coverings along 36 Market Square on Wall Avenue.

We've all seen it a thousand times. On abandoned buildings. On interstate overpasses and median barriers. On retaining walls, public bathroom walls – on almost any kind of flat surface in a public space. On signs, newspaper boxes, dumpsters, sidewalks. At Market Square, Union Street, Old City, Fort Sanders – all over the county. Some of it is colorful and of considerable artistic merit. Some of it is just initials, a name, a symbol, silly short messages, dime-store philosophy or raging obscenities – ugly, crude spray-painted eyesores. And it's illegal if done, as it almost always is, without a property owner's permission.

Sgt. David Powell, supervisor of the Knoxville Police Department's downtown district support unit, is a key person involved in controlling graffiti downtown.

"Basically, what we've got is what you might identify as the taggers," says Powell. "Usually young people in their late-teenage years. They tag buildings, signs, dumpsters, interstate overpasses, etc. It's an artistic thing for them. Of course, I and others don't look at it that way. It's more of a vandalism thing. Sometimes it's just one or two letters but when you're dealing with underpasses and things of that nature it's on a much larger scale."

Powell says that graffiti in Knoxville, though less a problem here than in other cities of comparable size, is something he's been instructed to deal with stringently. But he says it can be difficult to catch someone in the act. When prevention fails, cleaning up after the fact is the last resort. KPD put together a Graffiti Abatement Task Force of police cadets and other volunteers last summer that cleaned off graffiti downtown and repainted the marred surfaces. Another cleanup is planned for this month.

The most significant graffiti case in Knoxville's history occurred in 2007 when Seth David Calehuff and Christopher Douglas Jones, who used the tag names "Mind," and "Bantr" respectively, were charged with defacing dozens of downtown and West Knoxville sites. Calehuff was indicted on 12 felony and misdemeanor charges; Jones on seven similar charges.

The police department and Mayor Bill Haslam took well-publicized tough stances on graffiti in a joint news conference at the time and have maintained that posture ever since.

New and troublesome graffiti does appear from time to time. About five months ago, three Farragut students were charged with felony vandalism for damage at Bearden High that included spray-painted graffiti. A month later, unknown taggers marked the marble walls surrounding the Knoxville Museum of Art's sculpture garden. The porous marble made this clean up particularly troublesome.

David Butler, KMA executive director, was angered by the vandalism at the art museum but admits to being somewhat sympathetic to graffiti artistry in general. "Some of it is quite beautiful, and it can be a legitimate art form," says Butler. "But I think it's a matter of context. Some things are appropriate in one place but not in another."

Downtown Knoxville's Central Business Improvement District has contributed to the fight against graffiti vandalism and other crime by helping to fund surveillance cameras at various strategic locations downtown that KPD monitors. Michele Hummel, CBID director, notes the cyclical nature of graffiti defacement in the city.

"It comes and goes in spurts," she says.

Hummel says CBID encourages Knoxvillians who see graffiti on buildings to quickly call the city's 311 telephone system to report it and thereby increase the likelihood that the owners can be notified and the graffiti removed expeditiously.

Semi Confessions of a Knoxville Graffiti Artist

Knoxville Magazine put the word out that we wanted to interview a graffiti artist to complement our article on

the illicit artistic expression, but we had a difficult time finding one willing to talk with us - even anonymously. Finally, we found a long-time graffiti artist to share his (her?) thoughts via e-mail.

KM - Will you tell me your age, sex and how long you've been doing graffiti?

I'm a member of the BW Crew, a group of Knoxville graffiti artists who started in 1996. I didn't join them until 2004, but they had always been a big influence on me. I have been painting graffiti since 1998.

Do you consider yourself an artist or a tagger? Do you think there's a difference in the two terms?

Yes. I was an artist first. I have done art all my life, and when I was exposed to graffiti, it was during the prime rebellion years of adolescence. I was drawn into it immediately, and, 12 years later, it is still part of my life. There is a difference in that some kids like to just tag, basically just show where they've been, who possess no artistic desire. For some, the vandalism is the foremost mission. Others focus on creating legitimate works of art. A tagger could be an artist, or just a tagger simply writing their moniker.

How would you describe your graffiti?

I tried to be all-round in the early years - stickers, tags, markers, trains, murals, high visibility spots, wheat-pasted artwork. Now I'm more focused on big murals that focus on every element of design, to make a work that draws you in, that will affect the viewer in a memorable way, hopefully bring something to their life that brightens their day or makes them think, or inspires.

What kinds of paint and materials do you use in making it?

Spray-paint and house paint are used the most. But I've made do with printer inks, roofing tar, mixtures of oils and solvents for markers.

What kinds of surfaces do you like to paint on? Where?

Primed clean concrete walls or a clean train panel.

Is there a community of graffiti artists in Knoxville?

How many are there?

Not so much; however, the ones who are in this culture for the right reasons do stay in touch and communicate and sometimes paint together. It is a very small community, just a handful of maybe six or seven serious kids.

Why do you do it?

Here's the hardest question. I have a lot of strong opinions and feelings about graffiti and age and/or lifestyle. I started because I was a pissed-off teenager who skateboarded and went to punk-rock shows. We just wanted to express ourselves. We played in bands, we skated, we painted/tagged - just part of that stage in your life where you need attention. You want to be noticed, to be somebody, have people know you but you not know them. Had I not started at the age when this behavior is expected, I wouldn't be doing it still. Graffiti can actually mature with your age, if you will.

Do you have any qualms about defacing other people's property?

Yes, I do now. As a teen I didn't care. It was about being noticed, so you would hit every and anything, with some exceptions like residences, vehicles, places of worship or maybe old buildings that already looked cool enough without graffiti. As an adult now, I mostly paint either with permission, or places where it doesn't affect anyone other than maybe city workers and homeless people, such as viaducts or track sides, places you have to search for. This is because I've had to watch struggling business owners spend their little free money on cleaning up some kid's mess.

Have you ever been caught? Arrested?

No comment.

Anything else you want to say?

Graffiti is, like everything else, good and bad. There is a balance that needs to be achieved if you want to be recognized. Some are in it for the crime, some for the art, some both. There will always be kids tagging everything in sight because they need the rush or attention or whatever, the ones trying to find a way to fill a void in their life, some who just love the styles and aesthetic. If practiced right, I have seen graffiti artists go through this entire spectrum and incorporate their graffiti into professional careers in animation, graphic design and fine art as they became adults. In the end, we all want to live, to be happy, but becoming an adult brings responsibility, and graffiti is a whole new game when you've "grown up."

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