Letter to "Se Proto Plano"
To Whom It May Concern,
After I watched the first episode and some previews of next week’s follow-up episode of your program Se Proto Plano on the subject of graffiti, I decided to write this letter in order to give some insight
or another perspective on this matter as the mother of a former graffiti artist. I ask God, as I look at my beautiful son’s picture, to guide me while I try to find the right words as I write down my thoughts in this letter, hoping that it will in some way make a difference in the lives of God’s beautiful children and, hopefully, save innocent lives!!!
I was very saddened to see children and young men involved with graffiti portrayed as gangsters hanging out in a broken down shack running in fear of being caught and reprimanded, just for them to be able to express their feelings through an art form that a portion of society has decided is not acceptable. It should not be this way! Art is art in any form including graffiti/street art. I am not saying that I agree with destroying public property, but graffiti is far from that.
Most of these children and young men that draw graffiti seriously come from either well educated families or families that just don’t have the means or opportunities as the others. A lot of them possess a rare talent/gift in art, whether they do it as a hobby or whether they hope to someday have a career utilizing their artistic talent/gift. All, however, possess a true love for graffiti and art in general. My son was a loyal friend to all the members of what they considered to be a “graffiti art club” where they were able to discuss their art projects and dreams together. There was a sense of belonging and purpose and special moments shared with their friends. This is an art club filled with good kids with a common interest. A group of friends that could understand each other’s love for art and creativity.
My son’s love for art started at three years old and it remained with him ever since. He even passed on his love and enthusiasm to his brothers, especially one of his brothers who is currently studying art in a Junior High School of Fine Arts here in Greece. My son attended the GreekFrench School and was an honor student throughout most of Dimotiko and Gymnasio (Primary and Junior H.S.). He also received his B2 Intermediate Level diplomas in French (Paris-Sorbornne B2) and in English (Cambridge-England B2). He attended Anavryta High School and attended frontistirio (tutoring center) for the college entrance exams and for Elefthero (Freestyle) and Grammatiko (Grammatical) sketching also required for entrance into university. My son wanted to be an Architect/Art Director. Besides art, he enjoyed fishing, swimming, football, music, photography, and travelling. He was always interested in nature and in religion growing up. He was a loving son, brother and friend. My son was truly a wonderful human being!!! Unfortunately, my son’s dreams of utilizing his beautiful gift of art that God gave him came to an end when he slipped while drawing one of his designs on a train at the station of Eirinis and died from the electrical voltage on May 25th, 2014 at the age of almost 17.
The security guard(s) allowed my son and his two friends to draw as quickly as they can on a train that was together with other trains stationed there and not in use for the rest of the day. WHY did they allow them to continue drawing knowing the electric was still on there? WHY didn’t they shut off the electric for those idol train lines not in use especially knowing they were drawing there? WHY weren’t the security guard(s) doing their jobs by keeping the place safe and secure from anyone getting hurt or endangering their lives? WHY? WHY? WHY? We are talking about young souls filled with the love for art rushing to complete their art project in fear of eventually getting caught. Yes, they realized it was dangerous, but in their young free-spirited artistic minds, they felt they would be very careful and in that way nothing was going to happen to them. On the other hand, the security guard(s) knew better than that and should have done their jobs to keep these young souls safe and not allow them to continue to draw there!!!
More action has to be placed on keeping today’s youth from going by the trains. Security guards have to take their jobs more seriously and give these young artists substantial fines, more bob wires installed on fences surrounding the trains, and as much as they may not like this, even erase the artwork from the trains over and over again if necessary, until these young graffiti artists realize the gravity of the situation and that not even their love of art and it being displayed all over the city and/or their loyalty to the art club, coupled with the idea that they will be safe if careful, is worth going by the trains and getting hurt or losing their lives for. There should be the creation of educational art centers for creative young artists to gather together with fun art activities or art projects to work on, or even offer part-time jobs when available to utilize their talent and get experience, etc. More legal areas for graffiti artists to gather and draw should be available, and more gallery showings of their work and art contests to participate in, etc.
I believe that another problem that today’s youth faces that attracts them to graffiti as an outlet, is due to the stress that the Greek educational system places on them. There is too much emphasis and competition on students getting high grades on too many subjects rather than providing an overall good quality education resulting in a well rounded student. As a result, today’s youth feel stressed out or even burnt out. They find it hard to complete their continuous demands in their schoolwork and at the same time try to enjoy their youth before it quickly fades away. Classmates try to outcast one another because of grades rather than try to support and help each other. Coupled with today’s economic crisis, today’s youth are losing their sense of belonging and losing hope in their futures.
My name is Maria Padis and God’s as well as our beautiful son’s name who passed away is Stephanos Argiris Padis. I believe a lot of what is included in this letter is what my son and probably a high percentage of today’s youth would like to send as a message whether through their art or other means of expression. If possible, I truly hope you can use this letter in your next episode of your program on Grafitti, and I hope this letter will keep my son’s passion for art alive. In my son Stephanos’ memory, I hope this letter will help save other innocent, young, beautiful souls like his!!!
Thanks for your time and consideration in this matter. Please get back to me with your response!
Sincerely,
Maria Padis