Graffiti isn't art.

• Author: Bernell, William I.
• Position: Letters to the Editor - Letter to the editor

In his June article, "Shepard Fairey, Citizen Artist," Antonino D'Ambrosio says, "Armed with a skateboard, a spray paint can, and a pair of Dickies work pants ... we rolled around the neighborhood scrawling public art on the scores of abandoned buildings that once bustled with workers but were left to rot." I strongly suspect that these so-called public artists did not limit themselves to abandoned buildings, and I would bet money that they included schools, libraries, and other government buildings, as well as apartments and private homes, as recipients of their unwanted and ugly spray can art.

In San Francisco, where I make my home, there is a cruel law that requires property owners to remove graffiti from their buildings in a timely manner or else face the possibility of a hefty fine. Thus, the victim is twice...