I am not sure if this new mural is art, an advertisement or both but I am pretty sure whatever it is I hate it - I really hate it. I think that that in order to encourage business development on the Congress Heights corridor the corridor needs to look more inviting for business - both for potenital customers and businesses alike. The visual standards need to be raised along with business services and options. Personally, I really like murals - when done tastefully they can really have a positive impact on a community and add a certain flair and character. My own personal opinion (and we all know what they say about opinons) is that the murals on Mellon Street perhaps aren't the best fit for where we are trying to go as a community.
In terms of the Mellon Street Corner store mural while I totally appreciate the stores desire to want to advertise their business, highlighting only the stereotypical things you would expect to find in a low income neighborhood with few services and options (check cashing, money wiring services and last but not least - the lottery) underestimates the needs of their consumers and in the long run places limitations on the potential for their business to expand. In regards to the Obama/King mural overall I like the intent of the mural - I just think it could have been executed a bit... differently (to be honest I thought the depiction of Obama looked more like Malcom X). I am super curious to know if DC goverment has rules or regulations regarding the installation of wall murals on commercial property. Do they have to go before the community for approval or input prior to being installed?
I am interested in hearing some other opinions of the murals on the corner of Mellon Street and MLK. Art or Eyesore? Both? Neither? What do you think?
Either way I would have preferred to see these type of public artistic/advertising installations be presented to the community for comments before being installed.
On the far right wall is the Obama/King mural that went up after Obama won the presidential election. Lord knows I love Obama and Dr. King and I really do appreciate the sentiment behind the installation of this mural but again I just don't like it. My preference would have been for the iconic Obama "Change" or "Progress" poster or perhaps one of his speeches - after community input of course. This is yet another example of how I feel if ANC 8C was a productive ANC, partnerships could be developed with local businesses and local artists to work with the community to include wall art and other types of artistic expressions in the community - in a beneficial and aesthetic pleasing manner.
I did a Google search and I found some other Obama wall murals that I found both interesting, positive and well executed. The type of murals that I think could have both a positive sentimental and aesthtic impact.
Brookland, NY
Miami, FL
Los Angeles, CA
My personal fave which I would LOVE to see as a wall mural because at the end of the day isn't it about progress?
UPDATE: There seems there are laws concerning signs on commercial property. You can send an email to DCRA to investigate illegal signs or to ensure they are in complianc with DC law.
From the Department of Consumer Regulatory Affairs (DCRA):
If you suspect a billboard or other outdoor advertising sign is unauthorized, please email signs.dcra@dc.gov and include the location, a photograph of the sign, and any details on the sign that indicate the sign's owner. If you use Twitter or Facebook, you can also send us pictures via those social networks.
For more Congress Heights and River East news visit The Congress Heights Examiner website, http://www.examiner.com/x-13507-Congress-Heights-Community-Examiner
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17 Comments:
Yep, that is some pretty limp graffiti, fresh for 1981..
The "Nu Flava Ink" is (what I think) is too much. The purple around it and the fill are just too busy, it makes the whole scene too messy.
I kinda dig the left side of the market mural/advertisement though. It's pretty budget but its got a little quirk and personality to it. I dig the surfing Oreo. Once again though, the purple to the right is just bad color choice/messy. And the "doritos" got to GO!
I think it wouldn't bother you as much if the noisy clutter and purple wasn't there. Kinda surprised a tattoo shop didn't have a little more skill to offer.
Those other examples you cited were from cities that have vibrant graffiti communities. D.C. has generally always been a small town graffiti-wise (not in fame, but in that not many writers are active at one time, relative to other cities.) It's also a heavily policed city (25+ law enforcement agencies) and low on mixed zoning and night life, which put the pressure on writers to be quick. Unlike NYC, writers didn't/don't compete for space much, or have the luxury for spending a lot of time crafting something great or the ability to melt into a nighttime crowd if caught. Result is that graffiti writers don't compete to see who can do the best piece, worthy of holding a spot.. rather, who will paint a spot and get away with it -- you don't have to be good, just be doing it.
I don't know SE writers really, but from the bubbles and colors, I almost want to suspect Cool Disco Dan .. might just be that I'm mistaking the writer for someone who grew up writing in the same circles as him.
14th st had a bunch of murals on a building a while ago, with a contact phone number painted as well. Most of the writers did it for free and would/will do an ad/mural for cheap.
Considering that one of the business owners here did the mural though.. they're not gonna be wanting to pay someone to do a job better than them (guessing.)
Thanks for posting this. I just saw the corner store mural the other day and the first thing I thought was that it was entirely too ghetto. It just looks tacky as hell. Thanks for posting the information about DCRA,I am going to contact them and see if they can paint this mess over. It's an eyesore!
Coming for originally from Los Angeles I can appreicaite a good graffiti mural. This is pretty tacky. I'm sure the business though they were don't something positive but it just looks bad.
I wish I had 4 hands so I could give it four thumbs down!
The only thing that seems tacky to me is wealthy white people moving into a neighborhood and telling the folks already living there that their art is too "ghetto."
Forest please go into further detail. Inquiring minds want to know.
If that was some dig at me perhaps you should know that The Advoc8te is black and I am not so sure I would consider myself wealthly but even if I was either of those two things what does it matter? Everyone is entitled to their opinion - why the heck make it about race? That is "ghetto" and stupid and narrowminded.
For a 2nd I thought this comment was from a disgruntled and frankly rude, narrow minded artist who was a little too sensitive when people didn't fell head over heels in love with his "art" that I had the misfortune of meeting a few weeks back. Now he was "ghetto". But I see from your picture that you are not him - I don't think although that does seem to be right up his alley because he seems to have some issues.
Anyhoo - thanks for your comment and I hope you keep commenting on articles you see here.
BTW - using the "big scary rich white man moving to the neighborhood" tactic is kind of tacky. We are all people and we encourage anyone - black, white, rich or poor to move to Congress Heights. You are very welcome to live here, be a productive member of society and have input!
If you're a hater, bomb the place with different tags overnight. That's practically standard protocol with tags like this....
Really you couldn't make it look any worse. It's only a matter of time before this happens anyway!
Hey Advoc8te, my comment was directed at the anonymous commenter who appears just above LittleTortilla and who said that "the first thing I thought was that it was entirely too ghetto." I am not "making it about race" as you say. The word ghetto is a racialized word in this country and when people use it, they are already saying something about race. The very fact that someone chose that word to describe the mural says to me that it's already about race for them.
Either way, you say that "we are all people and we encourage anyone - black, white, rich or poor to move to Congress Heights," but sometimes actions speak louder than words. In particular, you are encouraging people to report this business for some sort of minor violation of commercial law just because you don't particularly like the style of graffiti that the store chose for their mural. That is hardly a friendly or inclusive practice, and I wonder if you would be so concerned about violations of this little law if you had agreed with the artist's taste in graffiti.
@Forest. Thank you for clarifying your earlier comments. I appreciate all perspectives - even if they differ from my own.
A couple of thoughts:
1) If I had to describe the in a few words why I don't like the advertisement/mural whatever you want to call it. I would say I don't like it because it looks "ghetto", "hood-fab","tacky", "poorly executed","Mickey Mouse" or whatever. I'm black (not that gives me an exclusive right on saying something looks "ghetto" but just so that you know) and I said it and anyone can read anything into it but at the end of the day that is why I don't like "it" - because I don't consider my neighborhood to be any of those things ghetto/hood fab/mickey mouse etc. so it concerns me when I see something so visible that may represent my community in a negative light - intentional or not and especailly when it violates the law.
2) Someone once said "you can't raise expectations by setting low standards" and I think that is what we are trying to do in our communities - raise expectations. Not to meet some external standards or definition of what is "acceptable" but our internal goals and aspirations - the need to reach our full potential. Residents who live here every day, working hard are not only tired of this misconception that Ward 8 or poor communities in general are supposed to be 2nd rate they are working hard every day to dispel that myth and make sure EVERYONE knows that we deserve a great looking neighborhood, clean streets, and modern services. We don't want to be the "next" U Street or Dupont Circle. We want to be the best Congress Heights we can be and in order to do that we are going to have to start stepping our game up and expect - correction demand that others do the same - especailly those that have profitted for too long providing sub par services.
3) I am going to keep this one brief. Anyone who knows The Advoc8te knows I am a stickler for the law. If it is illegal it's illegal - end of story. Now I am sure that the fact that I (and it seems I am not alone in this) find the corner store mural tres tacky motivated me to find out if the advertisment was in violation of DC laws but the fact of the matter is that if it is in fact in violation of DC laws then it SHOULD be removed. It wouldnt matter if it was a mural done by the hottest artist in the world. If it was painted without community input and in violation of DC law then I would think it should be removed.
I suppose in a nutshell what I am saying is that this perception that poor people or people of color just don't give a damn about where they live or about raising their standards of living is a bunch of garbage. Not saying that is what you were trying to say but living here you hear it often enough. Weather directly or in some condescending fashion as if there are not poor, middle class (and fyi - Ward 8 has middle class families) or upper class people of color/Ward 8 residents who not only expect the best but demand it constantly in their everyday lives. I know they do because I seee them every day, I live next to them, go to community meetings with them and work alongside them to make Ward 8 all the more better - to realize it's full potential.
Therefore to sum up. In my opinion (I can only speak for me) I don't like the surfing oreo cookie or the the tatoo shop advertisment and I would be just as happy to see the wall repainted white. We are trying to reviatilize our business district and that is not doing it.
P.S. I know my readers and I would bet dollars to doughnuts that anonymous who made the ghetto comment is black and lives right in the neighborhood. :)
@The Advoc8te, if you really believe that being black doesn't "give [you] an exclusive right on saying something looks 'ghetto.'" then why do you bring it up in the first place? And why do you go out of your way to announce that the anonymous commenter is surely black themselves? I don't care if you're black or not, the point is that the word "ghetto" is a racialized word as you yourself acknowledged. It shouldn't be used to describe a mural or an advertisement and doing so certainly furthers the idea that "people of color just don't give a damn about where they live."
And putting that aside, I really resent the suggestion that the graffiti implies that "people of color just don't give a damn about where they live or about raising their standards of living..." Just because you don't like the painting doesn't mean that no one likes it or that the people who painted it did so with the thought that "oh we don't give a damn about where we live so we'll make this painting look real ugly." The surfing oreo is fun and you talk about the tattoo shop like it's some blight on your neighborhood, but tattoos are an artform and a respectful business.
And what the hell do you mean you don't want to be the "next" U Street or Dupont Circle? Do you mean you don't want to be gentrified? Or do you also think those neighborhoods are full of graffiti that doesn't live up to your standards?
I want ward 8 to have clean, modern services as well and a vibrant, thriving community. But your insinuation is that the only way to make this happen is to push out any tattoo parlors or "unprofessional" murals. Putting in a Target or an office building is not the only way to build a business corridor. Do you want to be the "next" Columbia Heights because the city already ruined that neighborhood and any ounce of community that was living there. It's like a suburban mall now.
Basically, your complaint boils down to this, they didn't consult you when they painted that building and so you don't like it. I'm not on board with the idea that "the community" should get to veto or dictate what art is and isn't acceptable. That kind of policy leads to staid, boring neighborhoods because the standard we have set for ourselves is that it's acceptable to be offended by art that is unconventional, but it's not acceptable to be offended by art that's boring.
Take for example a street like Georgia Avenue. It's a very colorful place full of tattoo parlors, hair salons, restaurants, and yes, even graffiti. Georgia has it's own personality and it's own rules and I love that about it. I wouldn't want it to change. But there are a lot of people who wouldn't live there just because it's "too ghetto" and it frightens them. Frankly, I think that's racist and it really irritates me that the we're so unimaginative that we think the only way to develop and clean up a neighborhood is to kill all of its character and make it look like that suburban mall in Columbia Heights. If that's what you want to see happen in Congress Heights then yeah, I can see why we're having trouble seeing eye to eye.
@Forest - You made the assumption that the anonymous person who used the term "ghetto" was a rich white person who just moved to the neighborhood. I was hoping to show that the word "ghetto" isn't only used by white people. You initially tied the word to race - I didn't. I was pointing out that you made an assumption that most likely is incorrect. Perhaps the word "ghetto" is hypercharged but I do think that most people use it as an adjective - it has become part of our urban dictionary. But at the end of the day weather you use the term "ghetto", "tacky", "ugly" etc it seems the majority of the folks who posted comments here about their opinion of the mural - which was requested - is that they just don't like it (or parts of it) and that is okay - they don't have to like it - they definetly don't have to love it and if they want it removed that is still their right.
We want people to be invested and passionate about their community and take ownership and pride in where it is going so I am super hesitant about not soliciting community feedback - especailly for something that the community will have to see and live with for years to come. The community doesn't always have to have their way but I do think they should have a say.
@The Advoc8te, That's a good point about my own built in assumptions that the person who used the word "ghetto" was white. I'll concede you that one.
But whether that person fulfills my own racialized assumptions or yours, the point still stands that the word 'ghetto' is racially charged. It doesn't just mean "tacky" or "poor." After all, would you describe any of these photos of other impoverished regions of the world as ghetto? The word has a particular context and particular racialized meaning. Just because I was candid enough to address that fact doesn't mean I "tied the word to race." Pretending the word has no connection to race is like pretending you're color blind and don't see race. I don't buy it, and I think it's just a way of avoiding the difficult truth that we're all a little racist.
@Forest. Thank you for acknowledging my point - it takes a big person to do that.
We may not agree 100% - and that is okay because dialoguing is great but I think we can both agree that "ghetto" has a negative based connotation and neither one of us want it to be ascribed to our community - in whatever form. But weather we like it or not and weather people think it or say it outloud there will be folks who will look at that particular piece of "wall art" and will think "ghetto". It's just reality. Again I like wall art - heck I even like graffiti - when done well - I just don't like that mural and wall art and that is okay because it's just my opinion. :)
Good discussion. While I dislike the mural I do have a problem with reporting the business to the city. They are a small business and it doesn't help them to have city officials coming down on them. That isn't helpful to the business. I think it's owed to the business to at least express concerns to them directly and constructively as that builds community.
At first, honestly I didn't like the mural on the side of the Mellon Street corner store or the one from the tattoo shop. I thought it was tacky, cheaply done, the colors were too bright/loud and that they seemed to "run" together. Not only that, but the pictures of dorito chips at the bottom, an Oreo surfing on a chocolate bar, a "happy" gallon of spilled milk just does *not* represent healthy living in Congress Heights!
Plus, the fact they are advertising things like check cashing, lottery and BS foods makes my neighborhood look negative. ....almost like we don't care about buying quality, we don't have banks to cash our checks, and that we gamble - basically a typical stereotype of a mostly black intercity neighborhood . And I hated the mural because of that.
But now, I guess I somewhat learned to appreciate the whole humor behind it. I can't even look at it without laughing now...yes,eventually the wall art must come down because it is an eyesore and from a business point of view - a "lowbrow" piece of art.
Please don't get me wrong - I love art for what it's worth and humor too, but not when it makes my neighborhood look tacky. Hey, at least the Mellon Store mural makes a good cellphone screen saver!
PS- I'm a 20 year old, black female who lives in Congress Heights
QUALITY I really like this blog, now im not 1 for adding links in my replies but I feel this is a great exception, I read a blog like this on http://www.graffiti-art-murals.co.uk by a graffiti artist called Banksy & another great bunch of graffiti artists called the Graffiti Kings.
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