Hip Hop Congress

Graffiti workshop

Graffiti workshop provides lesson about hip-hop art

rianna Voight / Staff Writer / bv176303@ohiou.edu

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The Ohio University chapter of the Hip Hop Congress wants you to know hip-hop culture is about more than just rap music.

“Graffiti is art,” said Anita Tobin, president of the congress. “If you don’t like it, that’s fine, but don’t disrespect it.”

The group will promote education of culture and art in its graffiti workshop today. Attendees will have the ability to roll-up their sleeves, grab rollers and spray-paint cans and get their hands dirty.

The workshop will demonstrate how to create the art and will feature an interactive discussion on the roots of graffiti art within hip-hop.

J.M., a local artist who began creating graffiti art in the fifth grade and asked to remain anonymous to protect his privacy, said people can’t develop their own personal style without studying the works of others and incorporating it into their own work.

The student organization kicked off Hip-Hop Awareness Month with a forum last night discussing whether hip-hop is dead and the media’s role in the killing of hip-hop culture. Various forums will take place throughout the rest of the quarter.

Akil Houston, visiting instructor in the African American Studies Department and advisor to the Hip Hop Congress, said that when most people hear the term “hip-hop” they think of commercial rap music. Houston said he believes the event is important because it introduces people to other forms of art within the culture.

Graffiti also is about having respect for other people’s cultures, Tobin said.

“Graffiti is a big problem here at OU only for those who don’t consider it to be art,” Tobin said. “But graffiti is beautiful.”

The graffiti workshop will be at 3 p.m. today at the wall on Richland Avenue. Admission is $5 and will be used to cover the cost of the paint.