Hello! My name is Jake Dooley. I am a student at Humber College, and this is my Digital Communications capstone project. I have chosen to represent and archive graffiti as my love letter to all the unrecognized artists out there. 

I aim to help answer how graffiti challenges the divide between high and low art, and what it reveals about who has access to creative expression in a city like Toronto. This question emerged from observing graffiti and street art throughout my life here, where acts of creative expression are often seen as unofficial, unsanctioned, or criminal.  

As a media and arts student, I’ve come to recognize the privilege of having institutional access to tools, mentorship, and spaces to create. Many talented artists do not have access to those same opportunities, for a multitude of social, economic, and cultural reasons that this project seeks to explore. 

Importantly, this project does not shy away from the reality that much graffiti is illegal and vandalistic. I aim to address this by examining the spectrum between illegal graffiti, tagging, and professional muralism, highlighting both artists who have had institutional opportunities and those who create entirely outside sanctioned spaces. By exploring motives, methods, and the use of physical space, I seek to understand how different forms of street art are perceived, valued, and erased. 

Graffiti functions as a form of accessibility and a way for people to claim space, voice, and visibility when traditional artistic pathways are unavailable to them.