The #KiarahFreshWall

I began painting graffiti in 1989 when I was 13 years old. Over the years, I have been able to identify the benefits of graffiti as a social practice and a space for community. Particularly poignant for marginalized populations in urban contexts, the practice of graffiti has the potential to give youth a sense of agency, autonomy, and mobilization. Personally, I have been able to utilize these frameworks and apply them to other contexts and challenges in my life. These are the transformative experiences that I aim to help my students bring to light for themselves.      

As an arts educator, I focus on building rapport with young people. I understand that people walk into my spaces on a voluntary basis, so it’s important for me that I get to know everyone and that everyone gets to know each other. Only then can we engage in an educational, artistic journey together. As part of my work in the community, I recently launched the Graffiti Institute as a way to build capacity for young people to visually interpret their own voices and interests through a graffiti vernacular. We offer access to space, materials, and expertise from established practitioners in our programs.  

I saw Kiarah about a year ago at the 1st Annual Splash event, an all-female graffiti artist painting jam. She introduced herself to me as Rolis’ daughter, and I immediately remembered meeting her as a baby. I later learned of Kiarah’s death when her dad called me this past April. Even though I only spoke with Kiarah that one time, he called to thank me for the positive impression I had made on his daughter. He and I haven’t kept in touch for about 20 years, but he began learning about my work in art and art education while he was looking through Kiarah’s belongings.

This mural has the capacity to do many things: help a childhood friend share how much his daughter means to him; help a community heal and celebrate a young artist’s life; and serve as a programmatic opportunity for Graffiti Institute because the project will directly inform how we develop our approach to memorial murals and public participation in future projects.