Graffiti is one of those blights that never seems to go away. These days, it seems as if any object is a tempting target for taggers.
Central Tucson certainly isn’t immune from the graffiti plague. Street signs are especially vulnerable…
When they’re not being stolen, traffic safety devices are also quite the target…
Locally, there are two approaches to graffiti eradication:
- Get rid of it! This is the approach that the City of Tucson and its eradication contractor, GPC, favor. It’s also how the grassroots group, Neighbors Organized To Abolish Graffiti (NoTAG), goes about things. I blogged about NoTAG’s free public workshops back in July 2009.
- One-up the taggers! This approach can be a lot of fun. For example, there’s that nearby neighbor who awoke to find her back wall covered in graffiti. First, she got mad. Then she rounded up several cans of different-colored paint and went to work, all the while singing her favorite songs. She created a faux finish effect that looked quite attractive — and it masked the graffiti.Alas, that neighbor has since moved out of state, the wall has been repainted, and the new property owner doesn’t seem to care about the tags that have re-appeared.Another one-upmanship tactic is to drown out taggers out with big, bright color splashes. That’s what’s done at the International School of Tucson, and I’ll leave you to admire the results…
