Saturday, May 25, 2013
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Graffiti: Art or Vandalism?A street artist's arrest has people questioning if his work is truly defacing property or an artist's vision that needs to be displayed regardless of the law.It took them months, but earlier this week police finally caught up with a graffiti artist who’d been leaving his mark in Anchorage for more than two years. The arrest of the young man who calls himself “Meno” has people talking about what is “public art” and where it belongs.
KTVA CBS 11’s Lauren Maxwell showed some of Meno’s more striking images to several Anchorage residents who all agreed the young man was talented, but that defacing public property wasn’t a good idea, not to mention against the law.
In fact, police are still adding up the cost of removing Meno’s artwork from public buildings, but are convinced it will be in the tens of thousands of dollars. That doesn’t account for the mark he left on private property.
Denise Bodge knows all about that. Last September, she came to work at the East Anchorage storage facility she manages and found a 200-foot wall covered with Meno’s art work. It cost her company $4,000 to get it off. She’s hoping his recent arrest may help him learn a lesson.
“Hoping that Meno maybe gets a chance to do some community service work,” says Bodge. “Maybe showing other kids it’s ok to be an artist but there are right and wrong places to put art.”
Police say residents who see such “art” in the wrong place shouldn’t hesitate to call the Graffiti Buster’s Hotline at 343-GONE to have it removed.
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Greg said on Friday, May 27 at 9:23 AM
He is a criminal, and vandal. He should be sent to jail, then many many hours of service cleaning this junk. If the walls and fences you paint do not belong to you, you are a criminal. Spray painting a wall is not art, it is a crime.
67851782Kevin said on Thursday, May 26 at 7:38 PM
locolobo66, those walls weren't his to paint. If you owned a structure and had meno tag it, you'd be mighty upset if someone decided it was ugly and painted it a lovely shade of beige.
67818254locolobo66 said on Thursday, May 26 at 12:41 AM
what nobody is owning up to is that the walls and structures he was using as a canvas were nearly all ugly boring. why the storage company wanted to erase his art and go back to walls as visually appetizing as cold oatmeal is beyond me.
67753314Debora Miles said on Wednesday, May 25 at 8:55 PM
He is good, have him teach an art class, to kids this summer, maby thay'll say out of truble.
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