Personal Symbol Graffiti Wall

Last Friday I presented a lesson on graffiti art to students K-8 in a community center setting.  I began with a brief introduction to the lives of Banksy and Jean-Michael Basquiat.  We looked at a variety of images from both artists.   The students described their use of color and debated possible meanings of each artwork.  One student noted that Banksy used few colors, while Basquiat used several.  They identified symbols such as: wings, hearts, a cross, figures, and televisions.

I asked the students to create a personal symbol.  The symbol was to relate to their own unique interests.  Each student created a stencil by drawing onto a manilla folder, and then cutting out the shape's interior.  The stencil was held down while the student used oil pastels to tag a "brick wall."   Prior to the activity, I had prepared three large sheets of white bulletin board paper to represent brick walls.  The bricks were created using a large sponge with red and brown acrylic paint.

Once students had tagged the wall, they were encouraged to move to another section and repeat the process.  Students were also given individual sheets of construction paper to tag on, so they would have a work of art to take home.  After the lesson, the collaborative murals were hung up at the community center for display.