Tagging turf "not cool" in Greater Sudbury

BY HEIDI ULRICHSEN

Armed with paintbrushes and cleaning solution, more than 300 Rainbow District School Board students took to the streets Wednesday to remove marker and paint scribbles from buildings, mailboxes and park benches.

The community graffiti eradication blitz was organized in partnership with the school board, the City of Greater Sudbury, Downtown Sudbury and the Greater Sudbury Police Service.

"You see graffiti all over the city, and it really does need a clean-up. It's pretty much symbolizing our city as graffiti, and that's not too cool," said Amy Guse, a Grade 10 Sudbury Secondary School student who volunteered for the event.

"Sometimes graffiti can be nice, but it shouldn't be done on somebody else's property. I'm against it."

Nine Rainbow schools have also signed up for the "adopt a block" program, where they will keep their neighbourhoods graffiti-free, says superintendent of schools Bryan Slywchuk.

"They will paint over existing graffiti and maintain a graffiti-free environment in and around their schools not just today, but in the days and weeks to come," he says.

Ray Sasseville, the co-owner of local graffiti removal company Graffiti Wizard, donated his time and products to make sure the spray paint and marker scribbles were properly removed.

Barrydowne Paint & Wallpaper also donated paint and paintbrushes for the event.

Sasseville's company uses an environmentally-friendly, non-corrosive solution that he likens to "strong soap." With a little scrubbing, paint and marker wipes right off most surfaces.

The graffiti blitz is a great way to show students and community members that graffiti is not art, says Sasseville.

"The children will spread the message on to other people, and say, 'Look, I participated in the graffiti blitz, and it can be difficult to take off, and it can create a little bit of damage'," he says.

"We've got to stop this. If their friends are doing this kind of stuff, maybe it will pass the message along to them to say that this isn't right. It's not cool."

The city's graffiti problem is getting worse, says Sasseville, who has been in business for three years. "We're seeing more of it, and it's more out in the public, and more in our face," he says.

Insp. Eugene Toffoli of the Greater Sudbury Police Service praised the students for their volunteer efforts.

"You realize that graffiti is a crime. It's not something that is a right. If you can pass that message on to other kids in your schools, that message might get out, and graffiti might stop," he says.

Sudbury police recently introduced an education program called Graffiti Hurts in local schools to discourage children from becoming vandals, he says.