Graffiti – the bad, the ugly and the meaningful

When I was out for a walk earlier this week on a path that overlooked warehouses, I couldn’t help but notice the increased graffiti or tagging in the area.

Many find tagging or graffiti is a way to express themselves or as a method to mark their territory. But it comes as an expense to others’ property. A 2007 Edmonton Journal article examines the opinions of street art. But for myself, graffiti is what it is – taking advantage of a blank wall without permission and spray painting it with terrible markings.

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Art’s deeper meaning

Art has a dual purpose in life. It’s meant to be admired, to be displayed and to be bought and sold. But art’s most important role is to gather people together.

I was fortunate to be part of a blogger’s tour of the new Art Gallery of Alberta (AGA) yesterday. The building, which opens to the public on Sunday, is striking with its curves, its texture and its colours. What stayed in my mind is how the AGA will bind Edmontonians together because of art.

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