Southeast Missouri State University classes explore graffit as art

For the first week of November the east wing of the Serena Building at Southeast Missouri State University will be covered with graffiti. But this tag is legal — in fact, it was approved.

Two of Southeast art educator Emily Booth's classes are painting the graffiti. The art will stay up until Nov. 9. The students from her class, called Artist as Citizen: Communication through Public Art, will be painting their masterpiece for all the world (or at least the students) to see.

To get the graffiti project approved, Booth had to surf the university channels including the Art Department Exhibitions Committee and provost Jane Stevens.

Why graffiti? In her proposal to the provost, Booth explained that what her classes create should be both mural work and graffiti. Her students study the differences, the similarities and ultimately will write a paper and then give an oral presentation about it.

While painting murals is generally condoned by the public, Booth knows that painting graffiti can be a different experience.

"Painting in a hallway with strangers walking by, peering over your shoulder while you work on something that looks like traditional, illegal, subversive graffiti tagging is an entirely different experience than creating sections of a mural, working quietly and privately in a traditional studio setting," she said in her proposal.

Each student will be presenting their design for the entire class, which lets Booth weed out the inappropriate content her students may submit.

All students in the class will be monitored at each step so they do not stray away from their approved ideas, Booth said.

Booth is in her first semester as an art teacher at Southeast. She teaches art foundations and two sections of a general class with a mix of students from all majors. She also is the coordinator of the River Campus Art Gallery in the Seminary Building room 106.

She designs the art exhibits in the traditional setting of the art gallery, but her focus for the next two weeks is on the untraditional graffiti project.

Wander over to the east wing of the Serena Building between Tuesday and Sunday to see for yourself.