Just like hosting Deco Drive, spray painting graffiti in Florida is considered criminal mischief. It’s gotten pretty bad — Shireen and I pay a fine for this every day. But in Wynwood, you’re actually encouraged to do graffiti — just legally, of course.
Graffiti … graffiti everywhere. It’s a tell-tale sign that you’re in Wynwood.
Luis Valle, instructor: “It’s always been a place where artists came here and painted, and as the years came by and Wynwood started to become what it was, it just kind of blew up.”
Who’s to say you can’t be a graffiti artist, too?
For $39, Wynwood Art Walk is teaching you how by offering graffiti lessons — on canvas, not on someone’s property.
Luis Valle: “Use your head and don’t do illegal things.”
Hey, we saw that wink! Keep it on the up and up, people.
Luis Valle: “It’s something that you can do on your own. You can just go out and express yourself.”
Before you do it on your own, you’ll likely need some guidance.
Baby steps! That’s where instructors like Luis come in.
Luis Valle: “It is a process, like anything else. It doesn’t just happen right away, so that’s a good reason to take the class.”
Even the basics are more challenging than they look. Spray-painting straight lines, simple shapes, going through the ABCs…
Katharina Reekmans: “Just drawing the ABCs was like starting from kindergarten all over again.”
And, if you’re gonna graffiti, you’ve gotta have a good artist nickname.
Katharina Reekmans: “I guess if anything — Gato Cinco — to play on ‘Kat’ with the gato a little bit.”
Mery Dominguez: “People always wonder why my first name is written with an ‘e’ — Mery — so I think I’ll keep Mery.”
By the end of the lesson, these works of art are starting to take shape — though we’re really digging what Luis is making special just for us: the Deco Drive logo!
Mery Dominguez: “My respect to all these artists out here, because it’s a lot of practice and very precise.”
Wynwood Art Walk hosts these classes multiple times a week.
FOR MORE INFO:
Wynwood Art Walk’s graffiti lessons
https://wynwoodartwalk.com/wynwood-tour/wynwood-graffiti-lessons/
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