InsideOut

Where Art Lives: Educating Children and Youth
About Graffiti Vandalism

San Francisco Arts Commission Arts Education Program
In Collaboration with
The San Francisco Department of Public Works

Learning Objectives

This project for fourth to sixth grade classes has several curriculum objectives that correspond to the California State Content Standards. Two or more content standards are listed at the beginning of the lesson in which they are covered. Standards listed are a sampling from fourth, fifth, and sixth grade. Additional information about the standards, as well as citations, resources, and suggestions are detailed at the end of this document. For more information about the creation of this curriculum, please contact Alyssa Stone at artsedassistant [at] sfgov [dot] org.

In addition to the content standards addressed, the lessons accomplish the following educational outcomes in the interest of graffiti education and vandalism prevention.

• Students understand the concepts of public and personal space and the importance of differentiating between the two
• Students examine the differences between creating art in a private space, vandalizing a public space, and the creation of public art
• Students develop an informed basis for future decision-making about the treatment of public and private property
• Students express the value of caring for public space and creating public art for their community

Abstract

Eight to twelve-week curriculum: After four hour-long lessons given weekly, the class will work twice weekly in hour-long sessions to create a mural for their school

Four-week curriculum: Detailed below without follow-up mural-making

One-hour curriculum: Only highlighted sections

Lesson One
Recommended for Grades 4 to 6
Time: One Hour

Summary of Lesson 1

Students consider the definition of public and personal space. They draw a place they identify with. They are then invited to scribble on their neighbor's drawing, experiencing what it's like to have their drawings "vandalized." After a reflection session grounded in the experience, the class shares their feelings on vandalism and discusses concepts of ownership. To reflect, they write freely about their feelings on graffiti vandalism. Images viewed: Graffiti Watch ad campaign.

Content Standards Addressed

Visual Arts (Grade 5)
Visual Arts
Communication and Expression through Original Works of Art
2.6 Use perspective in an original work of art to create a real or imaginary scene.
2.7 Communicate values, opinions, or personal insights through an original work of art.

Language Arts (Grade 4)
Listening and Speaking
Comprehension
1.1 Ask thoughtful questions and respond to relevant questions with appropriate elaboration in oral settings.
1.2 1.2 Summarize major ideas and supporting evidence presented in spoken messages and formal presentations.

Lesson Outcomes

• Develop drawing skills
• Develop and reflect on concepts of public and personal space
• Experience "graffiti" and discuss its impact, reflecting on the difference between a temporary and a permanent mark
• Reflect on concept of permission

Materials Needed

• Slideshow: "Personal Space/Public Space"
• Drawing paper
• Markers
• Pencils
• Lined paper

Lesson Plan

Drawing Activity (15 to 20 minutes)

• Let the students know that this lesson focuses on public and personal or what belongs to everyone, including you, and what is yours alone. (The instructor may want to give advance notice about what will happen to the students' drawings, according to the level of tenuousness in the "safe-space" of the classroom.)

• Give students drawing paper and markers and invite them to use their perspective skills to draw either a public place (a street, a building, etc.) or a private space (inside their house or yard, etc.) The place they choose to draw should be a place they care about, or a place in which they feel safe. If they'd like to, they can draw themselves in the space, maybe doing something they care about. If students have not yet learned perspective, this part of the lesson can be modified to include a different skill-building exercise.

• Ask students to pass their drawings to the person on their left. Invite them to put their markers down and use their pencils to make a mark on the drawing that they have received.

• Give the students time to get their drawings back and erase the scribble

Discussion (15 minutes)

Questions for Discussion

• How was the experience of having the artwork you created "vandalized" by your classmate?

• If you make a piece of artwork, does it belong to you? What happens when someone else draws on it? How does it change if they ask permission to draw on it?

• Consider a sculpture in a park. Is it someone's artwork? Who does it belong to?

• What if we had used markers to scribble and the scribble were permanent? Does using a pencil make it any better, since it can be erased?

• How does this experience relate to vandalism and graffiti? Were you given permission to scribble on the drawing? Do taggers have permission?

Image Viewing and Wrap Up (15 minutes)

• View slide show: "Public Space/Personal Space" (images created to raise awareness, by Graffiti Watch, an anti-graffiti program of the Department of Public Works.)

• As you view each image, ask the questions: What is going on in this picture? Then: What do you see that makes you say that? And finally: What more can we find? Allow the students to fully experience and make their own conclusions about the images.

• Discuss slide show. A transition suggestion adapted from Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS): Thank you for all your good work discussing these pictures. They were created to make a specific statement. What do you think they are asking you to think about?

Reflection Free-Write

• Ask the students to free-write about vandalism and tagging. Write possible openings on the board, and suggest students use them if they are having trouble beginning, or if they need to get unstuck at any point. Tell students that you will not collect their work, and they do not have to share unless they choose to do so in the next class. Possible openings:
• Vandalism is...
• When I see graffiti I feel...
• Graffiti is usually found...
• The graffiti in our school is...
• The best way to stop graffiti vandalism in our school is...
• Graffiti is harmful because...
• To keep our schools and community beautiful, as a student and citizen, I should...

Lesson Two
Recommended for Grades 4 to 6
Time: One Hour

Summary of Lesson 2

Students view images of public art in San Francisco. Students consider the ideas the art conveys. Students evaluate the artworks' success in conveying those ideas and its design elements. Students view images of the same public artworks after being vandalized. They learn about the costs of vandalism, and use math skills to plan and solve the problem of how long it would take them to pay for the restoration of a damaged artwork. Students then forge their own definitions for graffiti vandalism, tagging and art and asses the "Broken Window Theory."
Content Standards Addressed

Visual Art and Performing Arts (Grade 6)
Visual Arts
Artistic Perception: Develop Perceptual Skills and Visual Arts Vocabulary
1.1 Identify and describe all the elements of art found in selected works of art (e.g., color, shape/form, line, texture, space, value).
1.2 Discuss works of art as to theme, genre, style, idea, and differences in media.
1.3 Describe how artists can show the same theme by using different media and styles. Aesthetic Valuing: Derive Meaning
4.1 Construct and describe plausible interpretations of what they perceive in works of art.

Mathematics (Grade 5)
Number Sense
2.1 Add, subtract, multiply, and divide with decimals; add with negative integers; subtract positive integers from negative integers; and verify the reasonableness of the results.
Mathematical Reasoning
1.1 Analyze problems by identifying relationships, distinguishing relevant from irrelevant
information, sequencing and prioritizing information, and observing patterns.

Lesson Outcomes

• Discuss the design elements used in public art
• Evaluate the design elements in the public art viewed and their success in conveying ideas
• Express the value of caring for public space and public art
• Use mathematical reasoning to analyze and plan a math problem. Use number sense to solve it.
• Define graffiti vandalism

Materials Needed

• Slide show: "San Francisco Public Art"
• Scratch paper
• Pencils

Lesson Plan

Image Viewing/Discussion, Part 1 (20 minutes)

• View slide show: "San Francisco Public Art"
• Introduction to slide show: We're going to look at some of the public art works that we enjoy in San Francisco. You may have seen some or all of them in person. Creating these works took many years, the cooperation of many people including the artist, and a lot of money.
• Use a combination of the VTS Questions (What is going on in this picture? What do you see that makes you say that? What more can we find?) and the discussion questions below to involve the students in the images.

Questions for Discussion

• What ideas or values were the artists expressing in these works?
• How did their design choices (i.e. placing the art on a pedestal or directly on the ground, using many colors or all one color, using realistic or fanciful representation) help express those ideas?
• Ask the students to vote on the piece they think is the most successful in using design elements to express ideas or values.
• Ask students to choose their personal favorite from among the last three slides (The Keith Haring sculpture, Lotta's fountain, the Garfield Monument and Rabbinoid have all been vandalized and subsequently restored.)

Image Viewing/Discussion, Part 2 (20 minutes)

• Continue to the end of the slide show. View "after" images of public art that has been defaced.
• Ask students to guess the cost of restoration the piece they chose as their favorite.
• Discuss the cost and ask students how they would plan a math problem to calculate how many weeks of allowance it would take to pay for the restoration. (Whose allowance? Ask for a volunteer to give the amount of their allowance.)

Costs of Vandalism Removal

• Rabbinoid $ 550
• Lotta's Fountain $ 350
• Garfield Monument $ 8000
• Keith Haring Sculpture $ 1177

Defining Graffiti

• Ask students to define the following terms based on all the previous activities and discussions. Write the terms on the board. The instructor may wish to share the following definitions:
• Graffiti Vandalism includes inscriptions, names, slogans, drawings, and any other marked, scratched, written, painted, or otherwise applied marking to a public or private surface without the express permission of the owner.
• Vandalism is willful or malicious destruction of property.
• Tagging is the writing of a name, date or words in many different places, without permission, in order to be seen or "get fame."
• Art is an arrangement of sounds, colors, forms, movements or other elements in a way that affects the aesthetic sense. Included in the definition of art is what many people call "graffiti art," or art that is influenced by specific styles from the hip hop tradition.
• Community is a group of people living together as a small social unit within a larger social unit. A community is comprised of individuals sharing interests, beliefs and values.

• Ask students if they would like to share anything from the free-write assigned in the first lesson. Have their feelings changed now?

• Write on the board: The difference between graffiti vandalism and art is permission. This is the definition that the San Francisco city agency, the Department of Public Works uses. Ask the students to assess this definition, keeping in mind previous activities about space, permission, and decision-making.

Introduce Broken Window Theory

• This theory states that if a window is left unrepaired, then other forms of vandalism and crime will follow.
• In other words, if graffiti is allowed to stay on walls, then it won't be long before more graffiti appears.
• Trash and litter become commonplace in such areas.
• People loiter in the areas and more serious criminals take advantage of the
surroundings.
• Graffiti creates a downward spiral for our communities; reducing our quality of life and encouraging fear and anxiety.

• Ask students to consider the theory. Do they agree? Discuss the community photographs you've shown. Do they support the "broken window theory?" Ask students to think back to the free write. Did anyone answer the prompt "When I see graffiti I feel..." in the fist lesson? How is that relevant to this theory?

Lesson Three
Recommended for Grades 4 to 6
Time: One Hour

Summary of Lesson 3

Students view iconic designs and discuss the art elements used to create them. Students design a "sign" to express their own ideas and values and to represent themselves. They experience "installing" their art in a "public" place by posting it on the wall as a group activity, then reflect on the experience and talk about its differences from and similarities to graffiti vandalism. Students learn about the graffiti vandalism's effects on the environment, communities, cities, and on individuals.

Content Standards Addressed

Visual and Performing Arts (Grade 5)
Visual Art
Artistic Perception: Develop Perceptual Skills and Visual Arts Vocabulary
1.1 Identify and describe the principles of design in visual compositions, emphasizing unity and harmony.
Creative Expression: Communication and Expression through Original Works of Art
2.7 Communicate values, opinions, or personal insights through an original work of art.

English Language Arts (Grade 5)
Reading Comprehension
Structural Features of Informational Materials
2.1 Understand how text features (e.g., format, graphics, sequence, diagrams, illustrations, charts, maps) make information accessible and usable.

Lesson Outcomes

• Describe the design principles used in public signage
• Look at examples and evaluate their effectiveness in communicating ideas
• Use graphic design principles to express personal values
• Develop clear concepts of public and personal space
• Create art as a temporary/removable public expression
• Learn the effects of graffiti on community and city

Materials Needed

• Pad of sticky notes
• Large piece of paper to cover the wall, approx. 3'x 8'
• Markers or pencil
• Slide show: "Graphic Signs in Public Places"
• The instructor may wish to photocopy portions of the Information Sharing section to hand out

Lesson Plan

Discussion of Graphic Symbols/Drawing Activity (10 minutes)

• Introduction to slide show: These are signs created for public places, designed to communicate an idea quickly and clearly.
• View slide show of "Graphic Signs in Public Places"
• Discuss the design elements of the images used: simplified shape, solid tone, etc.
• Why do you think these design elements were chosen? Do they make the drawing's message easier to understand?
• Which signs are clearest in their meaning? Are any unclear? Could the design elements be changed to make them more clear?
• Give students sticky notes and pencils. Ask them to create a simple graphic sign that shows an idea they value (preserving the environment, kindness to others, etc.) or an activity they enjoy (skateboarding, etc.) imagining it as a sign that identifies or represents them, like a street sign that says "here comes (person's name.)" Ask them to draw two or three.

Hands-on Art Activity (10 minutes)

• Hang paper on the wall.
• Invite students to stick their drawings anywhere on the paper. Make it clear that you are giving them permission to put their signs up anywhere on the paper, but only on the paper. (The instructor may wish to discuss how this is akin to graffiti walls with open city permission.)

Discussion/Reflection (20 minutes)

• Before or after this discussion:

Show the last slide in the slideshow (damaged Betty Ong mural) for an opportunity to talk about permanence of damage. The damage to this mural was done with a paint mixed with epoxy that cannot be removed, so the artist has to re-paint the mural to restore it.

Questions for Discussion

• How was sticking the drawings on the wall like graffiti?

• How was it different from graffiti? Is it temporary? Permanent? Does it cause damage? Did you have permission to do it?

• Did anyone cover someone else's drawings with their own? What was that like? Did it feel competitive?

• Did anyone put his or her sign off the paper? Was permission given to do that?

• Do you feel differently about the definition of graffiti vandalism after this exercise?

Information Sharing (20 minutes)

For the following information sharing sections, the instructor may wish to write these facts on the board, or photocopy and hand out this information. The information blocks are followed by discussion questions.

Introduce the Impact of Graffiti in San Francisco and Other Cities

• Although the cost of graffiti vandalism in the U.S. has yet to be definitively documented, for many communities, private property owners, and public agencies the cost is rising each year.
• "Graffiti contributes to lost revenue associated with reduced ridership on transit systems, reduced retail sales and declines in property value. In addition, graffiti generates the perception of blight and heightens fear of gang activity," reports the U.S. Department of Justice
• A 2006 survey of the 88 cities, Caltrans and Metro in Los Angeles County on graffiti removal found the cost was about $28 million. With a population of close to 10 million, the per capita cost is about $2.80. With a population of just under one million, the City of San Jose, CA spent approximately $2 million in 2006 fighting graffiti
• In 2008, 40% of San Francisco's maintenance budget for paint went to graffiti clean-up.

Introduce the Impact of Graffiti on the Environment

• Aerosol cans, like spray paint, severely damage the environment:
• Carbon dioxide, propane, and butane are commonly used aerosol propellants. These are "greenhouse gases" that contribute to global warming and smog formation.
• Pressurized cans sent to a landfill present safety concerns during compacting, and fire hazard becomes more acute if container contents are vacated using an aerosol-puncturing device for the purpose of disposal.

Introduce the Impact of Graffiti on Individuals

• Your Health Spray paint like Krylon is very bad for your health, especially if you are overexposed to it. Some health effects:
• Irritation of eyes, skin, and respiratory system.
• Headache, dizziness, nausea, and loss of coordination
• Prolonged overexposure may cause adverse effects to the liver, urinary, blood-forming, cardiovascular, and reproductive systems.
• Permanent brain and nervous system damage.
• Extreme overexposure may result in unconsciousness and death.

• Your future: Vandalism is a crime. Before you make any decisions about graffiti that could impact your future, it's important that you know the facts:
• In California, it can be either a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on the dollar amount of damage.
• Usually misdemeanors are first time vandalism charges with minimal damage (less than $400). A vandalism misdemeanor comes with: fines for you and your family to pay, restitution (long, hard hours of clean up), community service, and 3 years of informal probation. (Remember the math activity when we saw how damage adds up.)
• If it is more than $400 of damage, and/or the defendant has a prior conviction for vandalism, then it is likely a vandalism felony with: jail time, formal probation, restitution, and community service.
• Fines for vandalism charges range from $400 to $50,000. In some cases, a vandalism conviction could result in a one-year driver's license suspension.
• Sometimes the court will order the vandal to keep the location graffiti free, which might involve parental supervision.
• Vandalism is not limited to the most common property damage crimes. Additional crimes prosecuted under the California Vandalism Laws include: Possession of aerosol containers of paint under 18 and possession of vandalism tools.

• Explain to students that the decisions they make about vandalism impact will impact their family, their community, their city, themselves, and the environment. Ask students to brainstorm a bad choice about graffiti, and then ask volunteers to come up with ways that choice would impact each of these spheres. Explain that knowing the impact of your decisions is a form of empowerment. The instructor may wish to write a brainstorm list on the board under the headings Your Family, Your Community, Your City, Yourself, and The Environment.

• Ask students to brainstorm the end of the sentence, "I would like my school to be..." They can contribute one word, a phrase, or a paragraph. Take notes on what they contribute. Explain that their answer to this question will be the classes' job together for the next four weeks. For classes continuing on to mural-making: We will try to make your school what you'd like it to be by creating a mural that beautifies the space, makes it yours, and sends a message about graffiti.

Lesson Four
Recommended for Grades 4 to 6
Time: One Hour

Summary of Lesson 4

Building on the previous lessons, students consider what ideas and values are most important to them and choose one they would like to express in a mural for the school. They consider how best to express the idea visually and then use perspective drawing skills to create a design for that expresses what is important to them.

For classes continuing to the mural-making portion of the curriculum, the class will concept the mural in the length of this lesson.

For classes ending at Lesson Four, students make a sketchbook to take with them as a place to continue to express their ideas.

Content Standards Addressed

Visual and Performing Arts (Grade 6)
Visual Art
Artistic Perception: Develop Perceptual Skills and Visual Arts Vocabulary
1.2 Discuss works of art as to theme, genre, style, idea, and differences in media.
Creative Expression: Communication and Expression through Original Works of Art
2.4 Create increasingly complex original works of art reflecting personal choices and increased technical skill.
2.5 Select specific media and processes to express moods, feelings, themes, or ideas.

Lesson Outcomes

• Discuss personal values
• Express personal values though a work of art
• Each student helps in the creation of a public artwork
• Create a sketchbook as a personal space for their artwork or
• Begin to create public art

Materials Needed

• Drawing paper
• Pencils
• Staplers
• Markers
• Sketch book journals for students to take home (if the class is ending at Lesson Four)

Lesson Plan

Discuss Ideas/Values (20 minutes)

• Ask students to write a list of ideas that are important to them personally, or important for their school. They may use the ideas that they had for their graphic sticky notes in the last lesson, or they may use ideas from previous discussions or drawings. If they chose personal activities they enjoy, encourage them to think of the general idea that the activity represents (skateboarding represents a physical skill, fast and easy transportation; video games represent stress relief, relaxation, fun with friends, progressing in skills and accomplishment)

• Ask students to choose one idea that they most value and would most like to celebrate and communicate to others through a large-scale artwork that would be displayed at their school. Ask them to think about the space they drew in the first lesson. Can this activity be shown in a space in which everyone will feel comfortable, and at home?

Design a Mural (20 to 40 minutes)

• Ask students to consider how best to express their value visually. Show them additional examples of public art and highlight elements that express ideas of community engagement. How would they convey their own ideas?

• There have been many studies that show that murals rarely get vandalized. How could the design of the mural help enforce education about graffiti vandalism? Finalize mural idea and move onto spatial concepting and layout (if continuing on to mural-making)

Create a Personal Space (20 minutes)

• If the class will not be continuing to the mural-making follow up, hand out sketch book journals to end the last lesson. Give the students time to decorate their journals and make them individualized with their name or their symbol. Explain that these journals are now their "personal space" where they can reflect, draw and create ideas-they can keep them from now on. Give them time to draw the class' public art piece in their journals. Encourage them to continue to use this personal space for expression.

In-class Follow-up

This series of lessons is designed to be followed up by a class project, creating a 6' x 3' mural panel to be displayed at their school. The artist working with Where Art Lives will design the mural with the class to reflect school pride and principles they have learned during this project. This artist will provide the school with a lesson plan that will complete the panel with students during both school and after school time in four to six weeks

State Content Standards

Specific standards are highlighted for fourth to sixth grade. However, for each grade, at least two specific standards are met by the lesson. Please refer to
http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss

Additional Resources

Additional graffiti curriculum
http://graffitihurts.org

These questions are the pillars of Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS). For more information on this teaching strategy, see
http://www.sfbayvts.org
http://www.vtshome.org

Prompts adapted from Lesson One, page 4, Graffiti Hurts
http://www.graffitihurts.org/for_teachers/CurriculumSupplements.pdf

For possible collaborations with math classes, see extensive list of story problems in Lesson Three of Graffiti Hurts.
http://www.graffitihurts.org/for_teachers/CurriculumSupplements.pdf

Adapted from Lesson Six, of Graffiti Hurts
http://www.graffitihurts.org/for_teachers/CurriculumSupplements.pdf

Graffiti Hurts Curriculum Lesson Four
http://www.graffitihurts.org/for_teachers/CurriculumSupplements.pdf

From http://www.graffitihurts.org/learn_more/how_does_graffiti_hurt.cfm

A meeting with the San Francisco Graffiti Advisory Board, February , 2009

Site: http://www.p2pays.org/

Site: http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/cgibin/household/brands?tbl=brands&...

Penal Code 594.1 and Penal Code 594.2