Lisa Rothwell Guest Blog

Happy Monday YYC! Tonight's blog is another guest blog from our pal Lisa Rothwell. Lisa is a writer, business professional and avid community member. The blog tonight is Lisa's perspective on how Marda Loop's artistic culture brings together community. I hope you enjoy this blog and Lisa's as much as I did. 

Grafitti: a love-hate relationship, ultimately freedom of expression and the DNA of our culture and community...

When we see it we tend to marvel, particularly at the ‘good’ examples - the ones that easily resonate - enjoying the peculiarity of the spelling and neat design, not really wanting to say I don’t understand. Because is it really about understanding?

Graffiti gets good and bad raps. It tends to appear in places crying out for design, colour, words, pictures and meaning. Needing something - anything - to make them identifiable! Often when an area has remained or become empty, perhaps when a business moved, or where it has lost attention or profile in some way. And somewhere that’s still a big part of where we live, work, or socialize.

Graffiti has also played a big part in the ongoing operation of social and community programs otherwise faced with closure. A great example is where a famed artist like Banksy decides to adorn the side of a building with a remarkable design, which then sells for a crazy sum of money and enables that community centre to remain open and serve such a desperate need. This UK-based artist’s satirical street art combines political and social commentary, which often facilitates an embarrassing push towards much-needed thought-change and a different perspective.

My community of Marda Loop is fabulous, and has some awesome designs that appear one day and are often gone too soon. So you really have to be quick to enjoy, and snap with your iPhone when you can. Some examples are below - one in various stages of completion.

Marda Loop is changing, and with that change comes, perhaps inevitably, re-structuring, re-designing and re-thinking.

Graffiti telegraphs and messages to a wide audience - it plays an effective role in the psyche of our community, calling out the individuality of our neighbourhoods. It helps them finds a voice and articulates the importance that the surrounding community places on self-expression.

There is also the potential for it to facilitate change in a way that a city or a municipality cannot reach. Perhaps because it comes from the heart and soul of members living amongst each other, and not from an elected body that believes it represents the will and conscience of the people.

This draws a great parallel with Local Laundry, an enterprise inspired by and borne out of the concept and expression of community pride. An organization encouraging and facilitating dialogue through clothing, while demonstrating admirable and important social corporate responsibility.

To find more of Lisa's work head to her website  and her LinkedIn page!