Graffiti Graveyard

Photos and Text by John D D'Auria

Graffiti Graveyard in some respects is a graveyard, but not the kind that the average person is used to. There are no headstones or plots, but there is a hidden gallery of Murals, Tags and Roll pieces done by graffiti artists that find this secluded place to be a peaceful place for their creativity to show their talents without being harassed or arrested for defacing the city's property.
Sooner or later some of  their art will die, not literally but it will fade or be covered up by a newcomer to the gallery that wants to leave his mark on the cement walls that lay beneath the freeway,  a rival artist that wants to tag over it just to deface it or someone that wants to update a piece to bring some freshness to the walls.

Graffiti artist creating a new piece of art work.

 
Sources say that Graffiti Graveyard basically was founded back in the mid 1980's because of a lot of vandalism going on in the city of Duluth, MN. A lot of artists were being arrested for defacing public buildings, skywalks, trains, and pretty much any smooth surface they could find that they thought someone would be able to appreciate their work on. The only problem was, the city officials and some of the taxpayers of the city of Duluth didn't appreciate the art, they felt it looked trashy and chased away the tourists, which took money away from the city. So in some people's opinion an unwritten compromise was established between the city of Duluth and the local artists that they would verbally be given this spot under the freeway that could not be seen from the citie's population unless they went searching for this hidden gallery. Apparently both sides have kept their word in this verbal agreement to some degree because there has been  less graffiti thrown up all over the city of Duluth in the last 30 years and a lot of residents and tourists seem to enjoy going to the gallery and experiencing the hidden talent that rests under thousands of vehicles that pass over it daily.