THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 4, 1994 TAG: 9408020121
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: In the neighborhood
SOURCE: Mike Knepler
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
Graffiti artists beware: The writing is on the wall.
Norfolk is on the verge of tightening down with a new, tougher anti-graffiti law.
Not that Norfolk ever tolerated graffiti very much.
Heck, sheetrock once covered the now-priceless Civil War graffiti at historic Fort Norfolk.
It remained until August of 1991, for a remodeling crew to rediscover the graffiti, which was drawn and scribbled by prisoners of war.
This is valuable stuff like, ``All you yankee son of b-----s can kiss our a--.''
``We think this is the oldest existing graffiti in the United States. Until someone else steps forward and says it isn't, we're going to go by that,'' said Ken Wheeler of the Norfolk Historical Society, which operates Fort Norfolk.
But in Norfolk, you can't even run a bar with graffiti in its name.
About 1 1/2 years ago, City Hall helped get the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board to revoke the license of Graffiti's lounge in Ocean View.
Of course, there was also something about a rock-and-bottle-throwing near-riot at Graffiti's that prompted the action.
Well, how about Norfolk's anti-graffiti raid of 1984?
Some jerk had painted crude sex organs on a $5,800 outdoor mural called ``The Runners,'' once located along downtown Boush Street.
The mural of 13 runners and a dog had been a tribute to the annual Elizabeth River Run. But City Hall, so enthused about purging the graffiti, whitewashed the entire wall.
Artist Peruko Ccopacatty begged for time to restore the mural, but to no avail. ``The judgment is death by painting out,'' one Norfolk official said at the time.
``The city committed graffiti in its own way,'' Ccopacatty fumed. He soon moved from Norfolk, complaining that the city did not encourage or appreciate outdoor art.
What's graffiti and what's art? Do the twain ever meet?
Charles Sowell, a young man who volunteers to remove graffiti in the Old Dominion University area, says: ``In my view, the line between art and graffiti is very clear. Art is on a canvas or on property where you have the owner's permission.''
He labels as ``trash'' the indecipherable letters and symbols he vanquishes along Hampton Boulevard. (See cover story).
Some graffiti may be worse. Police believe it can represent territorial markings of violent or drug-dealing youth gangs.
Even so, can there be a way to channel these rough-hewn souls toward more creative expression? At times, groups like the Hunton YMCA have tried by sponsoring outdoor art projects.
But there's never been a surge of interest, even after the internationally famous Weyland painted his giant ``Whaling Wall'' on the Dominion Tower parking garage last summer. A lost opportunity.
City Hall's interest in outdoor art veers to the conservative, in taste and sponsorship. Despite visionary city planning statements about public art, the only real push is for an armed forces memorial at Town Point Park. Funding comes from a $500,000 bequest by the late John R. Burton.
Nothing wrong with that. Yet let's also tap our other creative and whimsical imaginations.
Yes, honor our military. But even Kilroy should feel welcome. MEMO: Comment or suggestion for Mike Knepler: Please call 446-2275 or write
The Compass, P.O. Box 449, Norfolk, Va. 23501.
by CNB