invitation for graffiti

A few months ago I “wallpapered” a room at the Starrett Children’s Center with white paper as an borderless canvas for kids to draw on. This was the second experience I had papering a room for these particular kids. But this time, I added small photographs from the pages of one of my books,  I’ll Wait in the Car.

So much happened in this small room. But for the most part, it wasn’t what I had expected. The marks made by the kids in response or relation to my photographs were much less literal or narrative than they were abstract and energetic. Lots of “frames” were made. And lots of meandering lines were drawn that seemed to connect the photographs and/or the dogs. So much happens when you change the rules of the game. In this case, the environment was electrified when it became clear that writing on the walls and writing on or around someone else’s art was encouraged and permitted.