Two of our Middle School Discovery Classes on “In the News and Creative Writing” recently visited the exhibit “Above Ground: Art from the Martin Wong Graffiti Collection” at the Museum of the City of New York. Throughout their gallery tour, students were greeted with numerous examples of graffiti, ranging from those on 70’s subway cars to those on present day buildings. Based on this, students also analyzed the controversy surrounding graffiti, and gained knowledge of why graffiti was not appreciated by the public as well as how perceptions about art, not just graffiti, change over time. 

Grade 8 Dean Ali Miller explains, “The main question revolving around the entire experience was: Is Graffiti, Art? By the end, students were able to effectively answer the question, using the lifetime of Martin Wong and other works of graffiti as supporting evidence.”

Konner J. ‘29, commented “Visiting the graffiti exhibit challenged my views on art by making me rethink about what the definition of art really is. Is it a way of expressing yourself, or is it simply just anything that one creates? As I explored the exhibits, I slowly realized that almost anything can be called art; it is simply the intentions of the artist.”