Graffiti the right way

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Christopher Gross
  • 3rd Wing Public Affairs
ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  A crew chief from the 19th Aircraft Maintenance Unit was seen graffitiing the skate park here April 3.

Staff Sgt. Art Delafuente has been doing graffiti since he was 14 years old.

This past winter Sergeant Delafuente was painting graffiti in a friend's garage, located off base, when he heard about an opportunity on base. The Arctic Oasis Community Center has been looking for a graffiti artist for the past two years to put some color on its indoor skate park walls.

When he found out about the opportunity, he jumped at it. The Arctic Oasis staff supplied him with the paint and let him go to work and use his imagination.

When he started out, Sergeant Delafuente said he wasn't very good but every day he started to draw and he'd draw anything.

However, it hasn't always been legal graffiti. Sergeant Delafuente grew up in the "projects" of south Texas. While most teens turned their lives toward doing drugs, he said he took the alternative, and started doing illegal graffiti on private property. That was all well until he got caught at 16, and had to pay a hefty fine.

Shortly after Sergeant Delafuente turned 17, he joined the U.S. Air Force. He has been part of it for nine years now, and has been at Elmendorf for about a year.

That's when it hit him, "Doesn't make sense for me to do illegal graffiti, when I can just ask permission and they'll let me," said Sergeant Delafuente.

With a week of leave Sergeant Delafuente said he had put about 50 hours of labor into painting the walls, coming in at 8 a.m. and often leaving by 5 p.m.

Helping the sergeant was Arielo Taylor, a teen he had ran into at the mall. Sergeant Delafuente saw that Mr. Taylor was into graffiti and wanted to show him that graffiti artist are welcomed and can sometimes do their work for free.

"I try to show people graffiti is an art form," said Sergeant Delafuente.

It's a really good way to express the way you feel, and to show teens that anything is possible, he said. One way to show teens was by painting a space mural on one of the walls, telling teens to reach for the stars.

Sergeant Delefuente's main concern is to draw away the negative stigma he says is associated with graffiti, and show people that it can be a beautiful art form.

"Instead of writing on bathroom walls, put your thoughts and art work to serve a good purpose," he said. 

His next task at hand will be the 20-foot wall that is part of the outdoor skate park near the North Star Inn.