For our August issue, I had a conversation with Preston Hollow resident John Barr who has been dubbed the city’s “graffiti czar” – an authoritative title he hasn’t willingly accepted. But it came after officials noticed his dedication to cleaning up graffiti all over the city – not just in his own neighborhood. Read the Q&A here.
Barr has been flying around the country on his own time and his own dime, gathering ideas for the city council, which include establishing a graffiti art program to provide a legal and structured way to create murals around the city – not unlike the one done by W.T. White students along Forest Lane between. However, Barr’s main philosophy is that graffiti is simply “a reflection of the human condition”, and people can’t just sit around and wait for the city government to solve the problem. The more than Barr took it upon himself to start painting over graffiti in Dallas, the less there was to cover up.
What do you think? Should the city dedicate more money and resources to cleaning up graffiti? Or is it too idealistic to believe that citizens and would step up to eliminate the problem beyond their neighborhoods in South Dallas, Pleasant Grove and the areas most affected?
