2025: Empowering the Future through Education, Diversity, and Hope
Mozart and Migos, Graffiti and Murals: Classism in the Art World
Location
Hemmingson Ballroom
Start Date
15-4-2025 12:40 PM
End Date
15-4-2025 1:40 PM
Description
Art is understood to have “culturally significant meaning, skillfully encoded in an affecting, sensuous medium” (Freeland 2001). It’s a reflection of the human condition, eliciting critical thinking. It reveals what we value and believe from a moral standpoint, transcending class in the effort to evoke creativity and shape society. However, to believe that art is classless is to overlook major divides in where art is exhibited, the themes it contains, and what materials are used to create it (Lezra et al., 2021). Black-based art forms are often demonized, labeled and criticized more harshly than their white counterparts. Attitudes toward graffiti have been controversial since there was a war declared against it in the early 1970’s by John Lindsay, the mayor of New York (Mansbach, 2013). In comparison, city murals are commissioned by established artists and proudly displayed on corporate and government buildings (Cowick, 2015). Similarly, rap music uses its wordplay as a narrative, declaring socio-political messages much like graffiti (ArtLife, 2023). Rap has been perceived as typical of the lower class, while classical music has been associated with European high society. It serves as the epitome of musical sophistication and is framed as a symbol of intellectual and cultural superiority (Cian et al., 2021). Like graffiti, there is class-based distinction in musical taste. This poster will argue that culturally dominant stereotypes about American minorities and the poor have led to these differences in the practice and acceptance of graffiti and city-sanctioned murals, as well as rap and classical music. We will end by sharing suggestions for how graffiti may be brought into the mainstream and recognized for its contribution as art, along with pushing for appreciation of hip-hop culture.
Recommended Citation
Stearns, Alexandra and Peters, Lauren, "Mozart and Migos, Graffiti and Murals: Classism in the Art World" (2025). Diversity & Social Justice in Education Conference. 28.
https://repository.gonzaga.edu/dsjconf/2025/general/28
Publication Date
2025
Mozart and Migos, Graffiti and Murals: Classism in the Art World
Hemmingson Ballroom
Art is understood to have “culturally significant meaning, skillfully encoded in an affecting, sensuous medium” (Freeland 2001). It’s a reflection of the human condition, eliciting critical thinking. It reveals what we value and believe from a moral standpoint, transcending class in the effort to evoke creativity and shape society. However, to believe that art is classless is to overlook major divides in where art is exhibited, the themes it contains, and what materials are used to create it (Lezra et al., 2021). Black-based art forms are often demonized, labeled and criticized more harshly than their white counterparts. Attitudes toward graffiti have been controversial since there was a war declared against it in the early 1970’s by John Lindsay, the mayor of New York (Mansbach, 2013). In comparison, city murals are commissioned by established artists and proudly displayed on corporate and government buildings (Cowick, 2015). Similarly, rap music uses its wordplay as a narrative, declaring socio-political messages much like graffiti (ArtLife, 2023). Rap has been perceived as typical of the lower class, while classical music has been associated with European high society. It serves as the epitome of musical sophistication and is framed as a symbol of intellectual and cultural superiority (Cian et al., 2021). Like graffiti, there is class-based distinction in musical taste. This poster will argue that culturally dominant stereotypes about American minorities and the poor have led to these differences in the practice and acceptance of graffiti and city-sanctioned murals, as well as rap and classical music. We will end by sharing suggestions for how graffiti may be brought into the mainstream and recognized for its contribution as art, along with pushing for appreciation of hip-hop culture.
Comments
Poster Session B