Vandalism has become a controversial issue in the Edison community of Kalamazoo, MI. Various businesses, organizations, and homes have been randomly tagged in the area and it is beginning to cause a stir among local business owners and residents. One organization in particular, Fire Historical and Cultural Arts Collaborative has been targeted repeatedly as of late. In my opinion, the perpetrators are completely wrong in regards to their actions because their spray painting devalues buildings vital to the area, causes the owners to be penalized by police when they had nothing to do the crime, and it gives graffiti art a bad name as a means for self-expression. Tagging is when a person or group of people signs or “tags” a building, wall, canvas, etc. via spray paint. This type of vandalism has given spray painting a misconception of being an act of rebellion, committed mostly by insubordinate adolescent gang members with the intent of damaging or defacing property for amusement. Conversely, spray painting is really an art form in its own right.

Graffiti art stemmed from the innovative hip-hop culture, and was unveiled to help showcase the aesthetic genius instilled in many inner-city artists. Fire Historical and Cultural Arts Collaborative can offer individuals an outlet to express themselves through Graffiti Art. So ironically, the taggers could spray paint liberally inside of the building and put their talents to good use, as opposed to inappropriately tagging the edifice itself. Although, those suspects living in the community may be highly skilled in the area of graffiti art, their talent in no way justifies the crime of tagging buildings when they aren’t permitted to do so. Going to Fire as an alternative would allow taggers to accomplish something more productive, and save themselves, residents, and law enforcement precious time and money.