Saturday, May 5, 2007
Jack Milton/Staff Photographer
Portland-area artist Tim Clorius paints a graffiti piece on a panel outside Percy Cycles in Bramhall Square on Friday. Graffiti artists painted dozens of panels on plywood, which will be auctioned to benefit Portland's legal graffiti wall and skate park, which may include a graffiti wall.
Jack Milton/Staff Photographer
A New Hampshire artist, who gave his name as "Sorter," paints outside Percy Cycles. Graffiti has a mixed reputation -- encouraged by some as contemporary art, but criticized by others when property is illegally "tagged."
Jack Milton/Staff Photographer
Tim Clorius works on a panel outside Percy Cycles in Portland's Bramhall Square on Friday.
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John Carlone says there are essentially two types of people who create graffiti.
There are the "bombers," who write their distinctive tags, illegally, on public and private property. And there are graffiti artists, who work with property owners and cities to find outlets for their creativity.
Carlone, a 32-year-old salesman who lives in the Bronx, N.Y., has been both.
"I started off in the '80s like a lot of kids my age, tagging," Carlone. "Now I draw with friends. Some people go bowling or play golf. We hang out, listen to music.
"I have a couple of walls in the Bronx, where the owners give me permission," he said.
Carlone was among about 20 artists from New York and New England who gathered in Portland on Friday at the invitation of the Portland graffiti artist who goes by the name "Rich." He declined to provide his full name.
Throughout the afternoon, the artists covered dozens of sheets of plywood with original artwork. The gathering was hosted by Percy Cycles, and hundreds of passers-by stopped to watch and talk to the artists.
The idea was to promote the art form, which has gained a firm foothold in mainstream advertisements, movies and magazines. The gathering also was intended to rally support for a new skate park that's in the works in Portland, which could include another legal area for graffiti artists.
The city's recreation department is testing soil in a field off Preble Street, near Back Cove, as the possible site.
One legal wall in Portland, near the wastewater treatment plant on the East End, has been open to artists since 2000.
The artwork created on Friday will be auctioned off in the coming month to benefit the park, said Tavia Gilbert, who owns the bicycle shop with her husband, Percy Wheeler.
By coincidence, the gathering of graffiti artists comes at a time when officials across the Casco Bay Bridge are considering a proposal to curb illegal graffiti. The South Portland Police Department, with input from a graffiti task force, has proposed an ordinance that would be the first of its kind in Maine.
The ordinance calls for fines or other penalties against minors who are found on public property possessing spray paint, broad-tipped markers or other graffiti implements. It recommends a fine of as much as $250 for a first offense, and as much as $500 for subsequent offenses, plus costs of removing the graffiti.
Under state law, police can charge only people who are caught in the act.
South Portland police officer Jeffrey Caldwell said graffiti vandalism has spread out from a few parts of the city. "For us, it has really become a problem in the last three or four years."
City councilors unanimously approved the first reading of the ordinance on April 18, and a final vote is expected on Monday night. The public will have a chance to give opinions before the vote.
Some of the artists said on Friday that they support fines against those who are caught committing vandalism, but not simply for possessing spray paint, especially considering the growing interest in graffiti as gallery art and in marketing.
Carlone is concerned that the ordinance would discourage young people -- those that have no intention of breaking any laws -- from pursuing their artistic interest in graffiti.
"The kids who are out bombing are not the ones drawing art on the legal walls," Carlone said.
Portland's recreation department has held aerosol art workshops for teenagers. The idea is to give them an outlet for their creativity and events to show it off, Carlone said, and make them less likely to draw illegally.
Staff Writer Trevor Maxwell can be contacted at 791-6451 or at:
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The police should have been all over this event with cameras, and other tools to identify the local "artists" for later arrest when they try to create "art" on someone's private property.report abuse
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