I know of the large one behind Flower Express on Main and of course the train yards. Are there any others? I know there used to be a real nice area on the back of the buildings in 5 points. (If anyone has pictures from that time that would be awesome) I know graffiti is one of those things that carry mixed feelings because of all the garbage out there and the disregard for other people's property but I am a fan at heart and always look for walls in every city I visit. Any information you guys have would be appreciated.
There is a really fantastic mural by Shaun Thurston on the side of the Fans and Stoves building at the corner of Lomax and Margaret Sts. in 5 Points. It was commissioned by Riverside/Avondale Preservation and the Grant-Dooleys and is well worth a special trip to look at it.
There are a number of "taggers" in Jax, but no real street artists. There are currently two taggers sitting in the Duval County jail since May 5 unable to meet their bail. They have over eleven felony criminal mischief and thirty misdemeanor criminal mischief charges against them from three counties. They have done several hundred thousand dollars worth of damage.
There is another tagger out on bail waiting trial. Cost his dad $25,000 cash to get him out. Two felony charges and eleven misdemeanor charges. He will see jail time.
JSO and Angela Corey, our States Attorney, are taking graffiti vandalism very seriously. Cameras are being put up, incidents documented and arrests made. Ms. Corey has said that she considers graffiti vandalism a "gateway" crime by thrill seekers and has zero tolerance for it.
Yeah a lot of the stuff is just an eyesore or comparable to the writing on a urinal wall but I have seen some truly amazing stuff in different cities. It's funny I was thinking a dedicated wall sounded like a cool idea but then I read some early post on this site and everyone was talking about how inevitably the graffiti doesn't stay on the one wall. Although I must say its crazy how we are concerned about someone painting on all these dilapidated buildings downtown but the obvious drug issues and abundance of nuisance crimes on the streets doesn't even raise an eyebrow. We have pushed for an increased police presence around our building for the general safety and well being of the residents and property with little to no avail. It's a crazy city I tells ya!
Well, graffiti is property damage in and of itself, and can be very substantial depending on what it's on.
And that's besides the damage some of your more daring artists and taggers cause to structures in breaking in, as has happened at the Devil's School. I'm sure other posters can comment on the vast amount of damage vandals have caused to that building.
In St. Augustine simple spray paint tagging has caused damage to the Tovar House, the Castillo, and other structures that can never be fixed - even trying to clean that bullshit off crumbles the wall. The damage will remain long after the current perpetrators of "nuisance crimes" have left this world.
There are thousands of them in East Los Angeles, Watts, and El Segundo... Tell you what, why don't YOU go visit them and write back, tell us what you found... if you survive. LOL
OCKLAWAHA
There is a pretty large one on Landon is San Marco. It's behind 2 or 3 houses next to the Tropical Smoothie. here's a link where you can see it between the houses.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=32207&hl=en&ll=30.307045,-81.654993&spn=0,0.006958&sll=37.230328,-95.712891&sspn=49.096532,113.994141&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=30.307093,-81.654903&panoid=MRCdXUWEmJVU_1gsRcU5NA&cbp=12,172.33,,0,2.5
On a side note it looks like the new google images that they were driving around taking are popping up. Looks like much higher definition!
Downtownduval, one good street artist is the who does the seagull images you see in various places. They print on stickers that don't destroy the surface they're placed on.
I noticed one the other day while on the Skyway. On the southbank between the San Marco Station and Riverplace station I noticed a really nice landscape mural painted on the side of one of the buildings. If you go down Mary St you should be able to see it.