Make way for readers | Cherished graffiti, cursed graffiti

Passing under the new structures of the Turcot interchange, we already notice these horrible graffiti which destroy the splendor of the landscape. And this, throughout our city. One solution and only one: discourage these delinquent urban planners by imposing very high fines on them when they are caught in action. The message must circulate: you disfigure the landscape, you pay, and you pay heavily.

Among the ideas that come to mind, organize festivals or events combining live music and graffiti, invite graffiti artists to submit proposals to paint murals in parks, alleys, squares or public gardens, solicit the community of graffiti artists or its most influential and talented members to add an artistic touch to street furniture and site signs. In short, instead of fighting, I think we should give them a place, and the opportunity to express themselves in an established framework, in return for payment. There are definitely emerging talents here.

It is absolutely necessary to curb this scourge which not only makes our cities ugly, destroys the public goods paid for with our taxes, but also creates a feeling of insecurity in the population. It is not normal that the City and the governments leave these degradations unpunished and do nothing to clean up the landscape. When writing to my district (Sud-Ouest) to complain some time ago about the numerous graffiti, the official asked me to specify where the graffiti was located. If he had taken five minutes from his lunch break to go for a walk in the environment where he works… he would have been able to find hundreds on his own. Montreal is disrespecting itself!

Instead of trying to abolish graffiti, it might be good to multiply the legal places. There are three places in Montreal for legal graffiti. One in Lachine, one in Hochelaga and one below the Papineau-Leblanc bridge. Graffiti is an art form, certainly not to be confused with vandalism. And for the moment this form of art is misunderstood and often deemed inappropriate.

We should do a promotional campaign to encourage graffiti artists to deploy their creativity on the walls of their own apartments rather than doing it, without asking permission, on the exterior walls of buildings that do not belong to them!

In London, there are squads of graffiti removers. If a Londoner sees new graffiti on an alleyway wall, they call a special number, and a squad comes to remove the graffiti the same day. What young person would want to spend on cans of paint if their “art” is erased the same day? A significant investment will be required to establish this squad and when its effectiveness is proven, graffiti and the public expenditure to control it can only decrease significantly.

Install cameras in the most prominent strategic locations and bring offenders to justice. Cameras cost nothing today and their quality, even in dim light and darkness, is incredible. Model first offenders with severe penalties. Force them into community work cleaning up their own graffiti.

The mural festival comes back to life this week, and how sad to see that many of the murals that adorn the city have been smeared with graffiti in recent years. Too bad that these graffiti artists, whom I consider to be artists of their kind (I exclude here those who stupidly and ugly defile the walls of private individuals), do not respect the remarkable work of the artists who created these murals, and visually pollute what makes the charm of the city. I feel sorry for the muralists every time I see one covered in part by graffiti, and for me whose pleasure of admiring a mural is also ruined. Dear graffiti artists, please show respect for your fellow artists and find another way that is more creative for you and inspiring for us to express your frustrations.

Graffiti are visual aggressions that degrade the urban fabric. Graffiti artists have no right to impose their works on us and no right to damage urban equipment paid for with our taxes. Damage to a collective good should be criminal and severely punished by our courts.