Graffiti vs. gray paint
by Andy Zeigert
2 min read
One of my regular running routes takes me along the access road for a local canal. It's a public right-of-way as well as a road regularly used by the Central Oregon Irrigation District.1
The canal itself passes under a highway, and the access road passes under through its own little tunnel, barely wide enough for a truck to pass through, but perfect for pedestrian traffic. It's maybe a hundred feet long. Concrete and blacktop. Adequate drainage. Utilitarian.
An overview of the COID canal tunnel under the Bend Parkway, facing east.
But what it unexpectadly offers is a huge, secluded concrete canvas for local taggers and graffiti artists. And they are locked in a constant struggle with COID, who apparently prefer the walls to be grayish tan at all times. Any graffito here is ephemeral, destined to be painted over by the district within a week or two of appearing. 2
Spray painting these walls is illegal, make no mistake. But places like this are destined to be gallaries for punks and weirdos, and maybe we should allow a little room in our society for outsider art. Just please don't tag my garage door.
I'm not an art critic and especially not a graffiti critic. Many of the marks I've seen are amateur, rudimentary, perhaps created in haste and with little to say. But I've documented many of them.
Here are my favorites.3 I'll post more when I get 'em.
Captured March 19, 2021
Captured March 19, 2021
Captured October 27, 2021
Captured July 20, 2022
Captured August 14, 2023
Captured May 22, 2025
Captured August 7, 2022
Captured November 8, 2021
Captured August 14, 2023
Captured July 20, 2022
Captured August 7, 2022
Captured July 20, 2022
Captured May 7, 2023
Captured June 3, 2025
Captured July 4, 2022
Captured August 7, 2022
Graffiti can be a wonderful ongoing conversation between both artist and cleanup crew.
Captured July 20, 2022
Captured May 19, 2024