Graffiti is the process of “tagging” a wall or object by spray painting one’s name for exposure, but street art includes spray-painted images to promote an idea or concept, said Molly Maroney, who, alongside a local artist named Mouf, co-owns SprATX, a social media platform that helps artists in the Austin area gain exposure.
The creative environment in Austin helps make street art possible, Mouf said. The SprATX team helps to support street art by connecting artists with potential clients who want to commission an art piece.
“Artists are able to now create almost a brand of themselves,” Mouf said. “It’s like a billboard up in the city saying ‘Coke’ or ‘Pepsi’ all over the place the way artists put up their artwork and people follow it.”
Almost everyone who works with SprATX wants to create art the public can enjoy, Maroney said. However, Austin has a graffiti abatement program focused on removing art placed on properties without permission.
State law considers graffiti to be any spray-painted markings, including inscriptions, slogans, drawings or paintings. If someone puts such markings on another’s property without permission, it could result in a misdemeanor or felony charge that could include jail time or thousands of dollars in fines.
Since Jan. 1 there have been 326 cases of illegal graffiti in Austin as of Aug. 20, according to the Austin Police Department. The graffiti abatement program is run by the city of Austin’s Health and Human Services Department. Program Manager Derrick McKnight said the city will reach out to the property owner when graffiti is reported and ask if the department can paint over the work. Business owners can opt out by telling McKnight’s department that the art was commissioned or they do not want it removed, McKnight said.
Knowing an art piece may get painted over is not something that discourages many street artists.
“For me, one of my favorite things about this style of artwork is that it’s very temporal,” Maroney said. “There’s almost an anxiety about painting on a canvas that’s going to last forever, but it’s a little more freeing to paint something that’s only going to live for a little while.”
Artists who work with SprATX include Aaron Darling, also known as O.blucka, and Samson Barboza, who goes by Boza. Darling’s giraffe named “Draff” can be found at various spots throughout Austin, and Barboza’s work was used to create the design for this year’s X Games logo.
Barboza and Darling each have full-time jobs beyond street art as well as families. Barboza said he has already noticed his children’s artistic talent take form in different ways, and Darling has used his daughter as the subject of multiple art pieces.
However, one of Darling’s most time-consuming pieces at Hope Outdoor Gallery, also known as Castle Hill, featuring his daughter was ruined by someone else who threw a gallon of paint across the art. The popularity of street art has diluted the amount of respect some artists used to have for others’ work, he said.
“That’s one thing about Castle Hill—there’s no respect or consequences anymore for painting over somebody else’s stuff,” Darling said. “There’s big Austin murals that people have spent 16 or five hours or three hours on, and it won’t last a day—it won’t last a week. There’s no respect out there.”
Barboza said his goal is to beautify an area with his work, which often is drawn based on inspiration he receives from the surrounding scene.
“I want people to know it isn’t always just tagging, lettering or gang graffiti,” Barboza said. “There’s a lot more to it; it’s been around a long time.”
