Graffiti of Erie

1. Graffiti of Erie By: Megan Hartwig, Lindsay Marafioti, and Jordan Pirrone

2. Table of Contents: • Noticings • Questions • Context of Work • Social • Cultural • Historical • Personal Connections • Lindsay Marafioti • Jordan Pirrone • Megan Hartwig • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KyFS-mIWFA

3. Table of Contents Continued • Curricular Connections • Curriculum Activities • Children’s Literature • Possible lines of inquiry/key ideas • Aesthetic line of inquiry • Line of inquiry activities • References

4. Noticings: Visual • Graffiti ranges in size • Normally found on buildings • Color: Abstract colors with text • Often times hidden behind buildings • Some pieces had pictures • Graffiti is often a way of sending a message • Some pieces were behind dumpsters, and trees.

5. Noticings: Auditory • Cars passing • Busy highways • Talking • Music

6. Noticings: Tactile • The rough texture of the paint on the buildings • The warm sunshine • The cold touch of the brick buildings

7. Noticings: Smell • The smell of smoke • Fresh mowed grass • Stinky Garbage • Gasoline

8. Questions: • How much preparation is put into designing graffiti? • How does someone choose that particular design? • Where should the design go? • What influences someone to draw graffiti? • Is there any connection to the design of the piece and the person? • At what time of day is a design composed?

9. Questions Continued: • How much spray paint is used to complete one design? • Is spray paint used for the whole design? • How does someone choose to start designing graffiti? • Is all graffiti illegal? • What is used to design a piece in a high place?

10. Context of Work: • Social • Graffiti is not always illegal, there are many different forms of graffiti, some in which are designed by famous artists. • A way of expressing a group of people, and their beliefs. • It is a pass time for most underprivileged individuals. • Graffiti drawing can ultimately result in destruction of property.

11. Context of Work: • Cultural • Graffiti today is becoming much more abstract and artistic. • The way graffiti is being draw today is much more complex and elaborate. • Years ago graffiti used to be just letters and numbers, but today it involves much more color and detail.

12. Context of Work: • Historical • Graffiti was used primarily by political activists to make statements and street gangs to mark territory. • It wasn't till the late 1960s that writing's current identity started to form. • The history of the underground art movement known by many names, most commonly termed graffiti begins in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the mid to late '60s.

13. Context of Work Continued: • Historical • Writing started moving from the streets to the subways and quickly became competitive. At this point writing consisted of mostly tags and the goal was to have as many as possible. • Writers began to increase the thickness of the letters and would also outline them with an additional color. Writers discovered that caps from other aerosol products could provide a larger width of spray.

14. Context of Work Continued: • Historical • It is difficult to say who did the first masterpiece, but it is commonly credited to SUPER KOOL 223 of the Bronx and WAP of Brooklyn. The thicker letters provided the opportunity to further enhance the name. • First with simple polka dots, later with crosshatches, stars, checkerboards. Designs were limited only by an artist's imagination.

15. Context of Work Continued: • Historical • This early period of creativity did not go unrecognized. Hugo Martinez a sociology major at City College took notice of the legitimate artistic potential of this generation. Martinez went on to found United Graffiti Artists. UGA selected top subway artists from all around the city and presented their work in the formal context of an art gallery. UGA provided opportunities once inaccessible to these artists.

16. Personal Connections: • Growing up, I always had to take some sort of an art class in school. As we learned in aesthetic education, art is very powerful in today’s schools. Seeing Graffiti throughout the city of Erie has helped me realize how important and inspiring art can really be. Before doing this project, I did not know much about Graffiti so I found it very interesting looking at all the types of graffiti in Erie and understanding the meaning behind every design.

17. Personal Connections: • Growing up so close to the city of Pittsburgh, I got to experience the city many different times. In traveling through the city I got the opportunity to look at many different forms of graffiti in many different places. I was able to review this art work again once I entered high school. I was in a photography class and a boy that was in the class with me actually drew graffiti on a daily basis. He helped me understand the art of doing graffiti. I believe that it is necessary to educate our students in all the various areas of artwork so they can grow up to appreciate and understand the importance of acceptance and respect for all the various forms of art.

18. Personal Connections: • I didn't really know too much about graffiti before this project, but now I think I have a much better understanding of the artwork. After exploring around Erie, we came along many pieces that were extremely artistic and crafty. I really liked comparing the different drawings of graffiti that we came across. Not all of the pieces were similar, and they all conveyed their own message. The colors of the artwork really stood out to me, and were all very abstract. This project definitely opened my eyes to a new style of art, that I knew little about and it allowed me to learn something new.

19. Curricular Connections: • What materials are needed to create graffiti? • What is the importance of the placement of a design? • What is the purpose of graffiti being located in cities? • How do Erieites feel about graffiti within their city? • What was the first graffiti design in Erie?

20. Curriculum Activities: History • In order to relate history to the art of graffiti we would have our students look up who, what, when, where, and why graffiti was started and the various uses and different significances it held. • The students would be incorporating their previous knowledge of the alphabet. They would also have to study the graffiti alphabet and use those letters to combine and make words or symbols. English

21. Curriculum Activities Art • By doing research on the history of graffiti the students would become aware of the art that is found in the pieces that are created. The students would create their own perception of graffiti using spray paint and a blank canvas. They would then reflect on their art work. • Science and Math can be combined together when studying graffiti. The students would need to measure how much space they wanted to cover with paint to determine how much paint they would need for their project. They also would have to take into account size and measurements of their drawings and the space provided. Science & Math

22. Children’s Literature:

23. Possible Lines of Inquiry/Key Ideas: • How can a graffiti piece serve as a form of artwork? • How does a piece of graffiti bring a community together? • Can people of different socio economic status’ both relate to graffiti? • Why does graffiti provide a form of expression for certain individuals? • Is there a difference between vandalism and community artwork?

24. Line of Inquiry: • How can a combination of symbols and letters unite to form a meaningful piece of art? What may motivate individuals to express themselves through graffiti? Why do these individuals acquire a certain satisfaction when drawing on public property?

25. Line of Inquiry Activities: • Students will observe the graffiti alphabet then create their own representation of graffiti letters. They should incorporate their current emotion and thoughts to their own graffiti alphabet. Students will then write a short descriptive paragraph describing why they chose that particular design. • Students will visit http://kids.tate.org.uk/games/street-art/ Students should use their imaginations to develop a creative work of art with some sort of meaning.

26. References: • http://www.daveyd.com/historyofgraf.html • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KyFS-mIWFA