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Queen's Park and Charminster Community Charity home
Graffiti on a wall with the words 'Ran out of paint' and a sad face

Graffiti & Urban Decay

When is grafitti considered art

Everyone has a view as to whether street art is desirable or not - but how many would complain about a neighbourhood Banksy?

mural mood board and design for queens west drive park garden
Can graffiti be considered art?

Absolutely! Many view certain types of graffiti, especially large-scale murals or works with artistic intent, as street art. Renowned street artists like Banksy have gained international recognition for their work.

Where is the line?

There are many local examples of both good and bad street art. Who would judge the image to the left as art? But then, we know the other side of this building has art many admire.

Does graffiti cause urban decay?

Graffiti itself is not a direct cause of urban decay. However, when graffiti is seen as vandalism, it can contribute to a perception an area is neglected or unsafe and this perception can contribute to decay.

Can graffiti improve urban spaces?

We believe yes. When done in a controlled or artistic manner, graffiti can enhance urban environments. It can bring colour, creativity, social commentary even humour and joy to an otherwise bleak or unloved space.

How can we improve our spaces?

A local artist literally turned one unloved wall into 'LOVE'. We plan to remove aimless 'tagging' and, where appropriate, repaint or transform with artistic pieces to discourage vandalism.

Repainting street furniture and utility boxes is like painting The Forth Bridge - never ending

Utility companies, such as SSE and telephony companies, aim to repaint or remove graffiti from their buildings and connection boxes every 3-6 months. Council fences, walls, buildings, traffic signs and even trees are also targets. 

All too often once the graffiti is removed or area repainted, they are 'tagged' again within days.

We are in discussion with the council, as well as various utility companies, seeking permission for our volunteers to repaint and repair. If permission, is granted we would aim to repaint within days of the graffiti appearing, with a zero tolerance approach.

The purpose of tagging is self-promotion, with constant and quick removal the benefit is removed and the risk of being caught increases.

There are a currently prosecutions underway for some of the historic more prolific 'tagging' individuals.

  • Green roadside utility cabinet covered in black graffiti tags
  • Dark street cabinet beside a grass verge, covered in white graffiti tags
  • Street utility cabinet covered in spray-painted graffiti tags
  • Green street cabinet against a brick wall, defaced with white spray-painted graffiti tags

For larger areas, we recommend art replaces tags to brighten our environment and stop vandalism

The underpass by BH Live was recently painted with a wonderful mural, funded by AFC Bournemouth

  • Artist spray-painting a large red crab mural on the tiled wall of a pedestrian underpass
  • Mural of a footballer in a red and black kit celebrating on a beach, signed Humble Cherub and MBN Arts
  • Underpass mural of a sandcastle flying a rainbow flag under a blue sky with a rainbow
  • Underpass mural of four people on a beach bench facing the sea, one holding a red flag reading 'Anything is'
  • Underpass mural of cartoon animals on a beach beside a signpost reading Queenspark and Stadium
  • Underpass mural of a beach scene with sandcastles, a starfish, a beach ball and the AFC Bournemouth crest

There is honour among most street graffiti artists: a good piece of art or graffiti should not be painted over

A mural of the word love on a utility box
Art often remains untouched

The 'LOVE' mural on the SSE sub-station wall remains unspoiled more than a year after it was painted. This wall used to be repainted in patchy grey paint quarterly, and retagged within days.

What other areas can we protect?

We want to involve the community in deciding other areas that could benefit from a similar artistic makeover.

The community garden wall

The first we have identified is the wall in the community garden on the roundabout of Queen's Park West Drive and Queen's Park South Drive.

Can graffiti improve urban spaces?

Tell us your thoughts - would a sympathetic, natural themed and earthy-toned mural be a positive or negative to this space?

Public consultation

We aim to ask the community via public consultation, and let the majority decide what should be done with this space.