At MTFP - Billings graffiti artist drawing line between craft & vandalism

Middle is the most public graffiti artist in the city and has works of art from the west end to downtown. He has spray-painted the Shiloh Road pedestrian tunnel, created elaborate murals in the downtown skate park, and has worked with many private businesses who offer up “sanctioned walls” for Middle and other artists to paint.

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Read the article at the Montana Free Press by Anna Paige

Excerpt:

“Stout was among the first people in Billings to receive the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) designation from the National Institute of Crime Prevention. The training teaches individuals how to examine areas of a city and suggest or implement environmental design changes to reduce crime, influence human behavior and improve quality of life.

“CPTED is a preventive measure,” Stout explained. “It’s proactive, not reactive.” Adding lighting to outside spaces, enhancing areas with public art and murals, and having employee workspaces facing out windows to provide natural surveillance are all part of this strategy.

“If you can’t change the environment, you change the social nature of the area and bring safe activity to an unsafe area,” Stout said. “It’s a positive activity generator that includes natural surveillance and community ownership. That is the whole idea behind public art.”

At MTFP - Billings graffiti artist drawing line between craft & vandalism

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