Summer is a great opportunity to take a closer look at the art around us. With this summer series, entice students to engage with a variety of popular videos from KQED and PBS LearningMedia. These graffiti and street art videos highlight pioneers of Bay Area graffiti, the most popular places to paint, and different styles of graffiti.
Bay Area Graffiti: The Early Years
In this video, see rarely-seen photos of San Francisco Bay Area graffiti in the 1980s captured by photographer Jim Prigoff, co-author of the seminal book on early graffiti "Spraycan Art". Artist Neon describes the styles, spots, and writers that had an early influence on the Bay Area graffiti scene.
Know Your Graffiti Vocab
Do you the difference between a tag and a burner? We asked graffiti artist Neon to describe the five different types of graffiti on the streets. Knowing these terms can help you evaluate, critique, and appreciate these giant, text-based murals.
The Art of Screaming in Color: Scape Martinez, Graffiti Artist
Graffiti artist Edward Martinez adopted the alter-ego "Scape," as an acronym for "Screaming, Creative, and Positive Energy". That energy is evident both in his vividly pulsating paintings and in his work with under-served youth in East Palo Alto, California.