Graffiti artist is an oxymoron. People who “tag” public buildings, homes, mailboxes and sidewalks vandalize with paint. They are criminals.
Calling vandalizers artists perpetuates the myth that what they do has any sort of artistic value.
Giving them stiff penalties must be the norm.
One self-titled vandal, Oricl, aka Kenneth Ellis, pleaded guilty to tagging city walls, gates and utility boxes earlier this week in Baltimore Circuit Court. He must spend 18 months on probation and 500 hours cleaning his and other graffiti from city streets as recompense. To listen to him, it?s not enough punishment.
He told Examiner reporter Kathleen Cullinan that he was going to “cry” when scrubbing off his name. He also told her “Oricl, I guess, is dead … so whatever.”
He guesses Oricl is dead? Did he put the “moron”in oxymoron?
The city spent $23,000 cleaning up after him. It spends $840,000 per year cleaning all of it. Don?t you think that money could be better spent on art classes for the school system?
Oricl noted that other vandals are not worried about being caught. If that is the case, the courts must impose stiffer sentences, like jail time, to deter vandals.
A can of paint and an oversized ego must not wreck the millions spent by the city to plant flowers, clean streets and make public spaces beautiful for all.
