Agora Speaker Series: Institutional Colors in my Neighborhood: The Challenge of Graffiti Art

The brown buff paint in Chicago is a sign of trauma. Chicago's graffiti blasters program is a task force strategy to erase graffiti (voices) that rebel in part due to the conditions brought by systematic disinvestment in predominantly Black and Brown inner-city neighborhoods. For more than a decade, it has served as a model for cities worldwide. In the early 2000's, the Brown Wall Project was formed on the West Side of Chicago to bring awareness and challenge the dominant narrative of graffiti. As gentrification runs rampant across the globe, in cities like Chicago, we gray out the expectations for justice. Developments get whitewashed in gray. Graffiti artists are then scouted to paint murals to try and make the transformation less damaging. Through graffiti art intervention, we will explore, interact and challenge the systems in place that are rooted in discriminatory practices.