I’m continuously amazed how murals and stories about murals either point to a project or source of inspiration or the complete opposite — “tagging” and graffiti writing landing perpetrators behind bars. I even read one story that confused the two — it made the “muralist” sound like an artist but police charged him as a “serial tagger” caught while painting “mural” (ref.: Cops: Serial Tagger Nabbed Painting Mural and Man Arrested For Painting On Bridge Wall). That muddies the semantic waters regarding the true meaning of what murals are even further — are they art or illegal graffiti? Even beautiful artistic murals I suppose are considered illegal if the artist has no regard for what is a legal and appropriate canvas, right?

No other topic seems to have relevance in both an extreme negative and positive sense at the same time. If a mural topic is not about graffiti and “tagging” somehow indicating eroding neighborhoods and criminal presence, the stories are extremely uplifting and about inspiration. Stories like:

• Art club paints mural for elementary school with the phrase “Excite, Educate, Empower” inspire 4th grade students.
• Mural in school library inspires Brownstown students
• Mural to celebrate Tri-Cities

are examples of how murals are inspiring and used for celebration. Both the negative and positive connotation of what murals are indicate that murals do one thing well: they make lasting impressions. Murals throughout history have been used motivate people in both positive and negative ways, but the point is that they do motivate. The right message on a wall mural or the right image has the power to change the psychology of those around it. Murals are important, and more people should take advantage of their communicative power.

You can become a wall mural artist without having to learn how to paint. A product called YottaPrint allows you use any photograph to construct a wall mural the way billboards are created. Find an inspiring message or picture and change your environment and your mind. See www.YottaPrint.com for more information.