Art on the fly: Fighting graffiti with chalk

In an attempt to combat graffiti in the Department of Art, located in the Mosse Humanities Building, the university has taken steps to make some walls in the department “authorized” for student messages and doodles.

The sixth- and seventh-floor elevators and elevator landings have been repainted with chalkboard paint, a specially formulated paint that turns almost any interior surface into a washable chalkboard.

The surface allows students to create impromptu art and write messages to each other in chalk, which can be easily removed with a damp cloth.

Photo of one of the elevator landings in the Mosse Humanities Building, covered with chalk graffiti.

In an effort to curb graffiti, the sixth- and seventh-floor elevator landings of the Mosse Humanities Building have been repainted with special chalkboard paint. The walls now are a designated place for students to draw impromptu art and doodles — on a surface that can periodically be wiped clean. One observant student passing by commented, “It’s interesting that most of this work is in the art building and includes words.” In this view, the bright lines highlighting edges in the space were created when the photographer used a flashlight to paint with light during a time exposure.

Photo: Jeff Miller

The newly painted walls are a solution to an ongoing graffiti issue in the department, says Heidi Golbach, lower campus community police officer. Some of the previous graffiti included beautiful drawings, but other graffiti was sometimes tasteless and vulgar. “We put it in the perspective that we have children and other people walking through this building — what do we want their first impression to be?” says Golbach.

Golbach and the art department considered putting chalkboards on the walls, but ultimately, after some research by the paint department, it was determined that chalkboard paint would be the best route.

“We thought that chalk would be easiest, because if someone found something offensive, they could just rub it off with their hand,” says Golbach.

Golbach also asked students for their input before going ahead with the new wall paint. Many said that they didn’t like most of the graffiti, but some of the drawings in permanent marker were wonderful. Now, students can create art on some of the walls without fear of getting a ticket, as the previous, permanent forms of graffiti would be considered destruction of property — a police issue.

Overall, says Golbach, the graffiti issue in the art department has improved significantly. Students and staff write messages to each other and create original art. Walls are wiped down almost every week, so students usually have a clean slate every Monday.

Response so far has been great, says Golbach. “You can see the response by the thanks written in colorful chalk on the elevator walls and landings and even in written encouragement to others not to ‘mess it up’ by using other mediums on these walls,” she says. “The hope is to continue allowing the students to share their artistic abilities with this authorized graffiti place. It’s a 180-degree difference — it’s very positive.”