Graffiti Field Trip

Our trip to the Lincoln Street Art Park on Saturday truly influenced the way I see graffiti. My whole life I have lived in Chicago where majority of graffiti (in my area) consists of tags on peoples homes.
In my mind, before taking this class, this was considered vandalism. After visiting Detroit for the first time, and specifically the Art Park, my eyes were open. Not only because the graffiti was more than just small tags, but because Fel3000 shared his love and reason for bing a graffiti artist. He made the art on the city walls more than just something for my eye to look at. He explained the purpose and meaning of a few of his pieces and I slowly gathered that each piece of graffiti, no matter a small tag or a large mural, has a story. Right when we got to the Art Park the letter to a father is the first thing that caught my eye. I could not look away. Later I learned that Fel was the creator of this masterpiece. Furthermore, I noticed the two other parts connected to this letter. Starting with the boys face, then to his hand starting to write the letter, and ending with the finished letter to his father. Fel told me he created this piece to show the emotional connection he has with Detroit and the Art Park. But in return, this project took an emotional toll on him. During the final days of work, Fel's son came out to help finish the mural. This cyclical event honoring Fel's father really struck him with an overwhelming sense of emotion. Hearing this story, I learned something I would have never known without talking to Fel. He showed me that graffiti is not just a quick act of art but rather a story that the artist projects onto the city.