The institutionalization of graffiti culture continues apace: a program teaching the style and history of illegal tagging is set to begin this month.
Write of Passage, sponsored by Red Bull, will start its six-week program on Oct. 17, with a series of panels, workshops and exhibitions, on topics like “signature analysis” and the difference between graffiti and street art.
Similar to the Red Bull Music Academy, the beverage maker’s annual conference, the program will include installations and mementos documenting graffiti’s rise from outlaw design to museum collectible, as well as appearances by notable artists like Cost, Daze and KR. Curated by Sacha Jenkins, an editor, writer and self-described graffiti historian, and the art collective Mass Appeal, Write of Passage will also offer classes for 12 students of the art form, selected in partnership with youth organizations like Paint Straight and Art Start NYC, along with the School of Visual Arts and others.
The idea is to give graffiti its due in a larger cultural context. “Graffiti — or what many of us call writing — is often misconstrued, denigrated or simply ignored by America’s people and her institutions, both on the academic and fine arts side of things,” Mr. Jenkins said in a statement. Write of Passage “will bring together some of the craft’s most influential figures in an effort to offer clarity, and to give the art and her apostles the credit and respect that it deserves.”
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/07/an-educational-program-for-graffiti-art/?_r=0
