Bogota, Colombia made graffiti legal, and people are making awesome murals

[wickedplayer494]

[img]http://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.2295944.1427258998!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/image.jpg[/img][t]http://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.2295946.1427259348!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_960/image.jpg[/t]

[url]http://www.ctvnews.ca/lifestyle/legalized-graffiti-boom-brightening-up-bogota-1.2295942[/url]

[quote=CTV/AP]A vibrant stream of giant murals greets people heading in from Bogota's main airport or walking down the cobblestone streets of colonial downtown.

Stencils of pineapple-shaped grenades and AK-47 rifles arranged in a rainfall formation allude to Colombia's violent politics. Monkeys and butterflies spray-painted in bright colours pay homage to the country's natural beauty and provide welcome relief amid the Andean capital's grey skies and monochromatic red brick architecture.

The proliferation of murals grew in part out of tragedy, when police shot and killed graffiti artist Diego Felipe Becerra in 2011 as he painted his trademark Felix the Cat. Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro responded by decriminalizing graffiti painting and even offered several public buildings as canvases.

Street art has subsequently exploded across the city of 8 million. By one count, there are now more than 5,000 large paintings on walls or the sides of buildings, many now well-known to the tourists who sign up for guided graffiti tours on bicycle.[/quote]

[Minilandstan]

I just hope they keep this quality going, It'd make it a wonderful place to visit.

[KILLTHIS]

If graffiti was always this good I wouldn't mind seeing it legalized.

[woolio1]

Honestly, the best way to keep graffiti off things is to give people a dedicated place to do graffiti. Inversely, making graffiti illegal just makes it more common. You would think governments would realize that after a while and just start allocating space for it.

[Beardy]

[QUOTE=woolio1;47390868]Honestly, the best way to keep graffiti off things is to give people a dedicated place to do graffiti. Inversely, making graffiti illegal just makes it more common. You would think governments would realize that after a while and just start allocating space for it.[/QUOTE]

because private property still exists. even if the state government allows graffiti, private property owners will probably not.

[Awesomecaek]

[QUOTE=KILLTHIS;47390859]If graffiti was always this good I wouldn't mind seeing it legalized.[/QUOTE]

Graffiti gets much better if you make it legal for ton of reasons. For the start, the artist doesn't have to work in rush, in fear of getting caught. Furthermore, knowing that your work might last for quite a while can quite increase the effort you will be willing to put into it. Finally, a lot (by far not all) graffiti artists do it BECAUSE it's illegal and you can guess where the overlap lies between quality level and only doing graffiti because it's rebellious.

[kybalt]

I feel like if a graffiti artist puts up a great piece, no one else is going to go over it until its very worn down from the elements. I guess besides assholes who will be assholes anyway, but that's another matter.