Street Legal : Youths Form New ‘Gangs’ With Designs on Changing Graffiti Tagging Into Art

“Spank” is one of many young toughs in Hollywood who have grown tired of the gang fighting and graffiti tagging of buildings that have for years been the pastimes of choice on the streets.

A growing number of youths like Spank are choosing another way to express themselves. They are joining “crews,” or loose-knit gangs of graffiti artists who are painting huge, spectacular--and legal--murals in Hollywood and elsewhere in the city.

The crew members, many of them former gang members, are highly competitive, but in a different way from traditional gang rivalries.

“We do graffiti against each other,” said Spank, otherwise known as Julio Crespo, 20, “without having to kill each other.”

Another youth, “Skate,” is so enamored of the burgeoning artistic craft that he now leads his own crew of 20 youngsters. He is teaching them, in his spare time and for free, to spray paint murals and use airbrush techniques.

“I got into this because it isn’t a gang,” said Skate, 20, whose given name is Aaron Anderson. “It’s fun, without the violence and the vandalism.”

The crew concept originated in New York in the mid-1970s, and crews with names like “Can’t Be Stopped” and “Most Wanted Artists” began cropping up in Los Angeles about five years ago.

Until recently, they functioned in an outlaw netherworld, where so-called bombers kept one eye on their “piece,” or illegal artwork, and the other eye peeled for the cops.

While many crew members remain primarily engaged in tagging--the practice of marking territory with cryptic names and gang affiliation all over walls--some, such as Spank and Skate, have become genuine artists.

To underscore this change of emphasis, “Can’t Be Stopped,” Skate’s crew, now calls itself “Creating Better Styles.”

And with the help of a coalition of neighborhood groups called United Streets of Hollywood, the local crews are being coaxed into the open.

In exchange for being allowed to paint legally on giant spaces, such as building sides and construction sites, the crews have pledged to work to eliminate tag-style graffiti and help businesses create the murals, to police the art pieces themselves and to encourage other youths to get involved.

Motivated by a desire to create, not vandalize, there are now at least 10 Hollywood crews, and more than 500 artists ranging in age from 9 to mid-20s.

“This art is coming from the streets,” said Laura Dodson, president of the neighborhood coalition, who first brought the street artists into contact with city officials and area businesses.

“Instead of painting it over, we should look at it,” Dodson said. “It is something people should really experience and feel. . . . This is a movement.”

Under Dodson’s supervision, as many as 200 of the young artists pitched in recently to paint a vast mural, depicting the theme “Hollywood Legends” on a plywood wall surrounding the Galaxy construction site at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Sycamore Avenue.

After being approached by Dodson and city officials, project developer Kornwasser & Friedman agreed to allow the mural and put up $1,000 for paint and supplies. The mural project, called Boulev Art, began in February and was unveiled March 25, more than 600 cans of spray paint later.

At the unveiling, City Councilman Michael Woo presented the artists with commendations from the city for helping to beautify Hollywood. Several youths, including Spank, ventured to City Hall in late April for more honors.

Before an audience in the ornate City Council chamber, Spank said: “People stereotype (graffiti artists), saying all we do is vandalize. But we can also do art that can beautify a city.”

Woo says he hopes the artistry can continue on blank walls, alleys and construction sites throughout Hollywood, as long as the youths receive permission from building owners. Otherwise, no matter how beautiful, the murals are illegal and punishable by a potential fine and jail term.

Another project under way by the crews, with Dodson’s help, is an ambitious 40-by-1,000-foot mural on the side of a Hollywood disco, done in a colorful jungle motif. That mural will be finished by mid-June.

Skate says he takes particular pride in that unfinished mural, and says he looks forward to doing others, even if he does it for free (minus expenses).

“As long as I get the wall and a chance to work, I’m fine,” he said in an interview.

Dodson has continued as a liaison between the street artists, the city and local businesses.

“People do not realize how many kids are doing this,” Dodson said. “The kids are always being put down, and all they want is to be up. They have talents and they want to be great artists.”

The mural artists say they belong to the culture of “hip-hop,” which mixes rap music, spray paint art, skateboarding and underground dance clubs. Many crews are highly organized. Indeed, Dodson says she contacts some of them by beeper.

Despite all the changes, Dodson notes that gang attitudes still exist among the youths, often very close to the surface. “It was touch and go there for a while” when the crews were working together on the BoulevArt project, she said. “But we made it through. They realized there was a lot on the line here and didn’t want to mess up.”

Some of the artwork is so impressive, Dodson said, that the creators have been approached for commercial ventures. She said the youths are learning to have a sense of community spirit and will participate in a June 16 cleanup of Hollywood in which they will wash off all the tag-style graffiti.

Michael Dubin, Kornwasser & Friedman vice president and a member of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, said he is trying to encourage other businesses to allow the artists to paint on their walls.