I have recently read about the graffiti wall at 120 Lisbon Street in Lewiston. The 12-Hour Club granted people permission to spray paint one wall if they signed up. But to do it, they also had to complete eight hours of community service, pledge not to tag other parts of the city, and refrain from painting obscenities.

So, of course, a few artists signed up, and a few weeks later, racist and sexist graffiti littered the wall. Then one of the wall’s founding artists was arrested for painting a wall in a parking garage along Canal Street. The man that was arrested said he did it because he and his friends were spray painting the wall on Lisbon Street, and they were chased away. He was mad about this, so he painted on another wall instead.

I think all of this was a joke! When people voted this wall to be what it is, they were setting themselves up! I think that people should know that having this wall won’t remove the temptation to do it other places, they’ll just want to do it more! The people who voted for this wall should have also known there would be people signing up that would write bad and hurtful things. There’s people like that everywhere!

I think the wall should be painted over, and the privilege be taken away, and that the people who voted yes to the wall stop complaining because it’s their own fault.

Brooke Ridley