Pocono News Section

Graffiti is now Legal in Part of the Poconos

Graffiti is now Legal in Part of the Poconos - Thursday, April 1, 2010 at 04:02AM EST

Reported by: Laurie Monteforte
Thursday April 01 2010
STROUDBURG, MONROE COUNTY - Eyewitness News discovered a group of spray painters covering a wall in downtown Stroudsburg with graffiti in broad day light. Not one of the painters was worried about the police. Dustin Rice said, "This wall here is all about respect."

Rice used to spray paint all over the Poconos. He remarked "I do think I was destroying property." Police eventually caught up with him. He remembered, "[I] Got locked up, sent to a juvenile facility."

He spent more than a year locked up and when he got out he knew he had to change. He said, "I had to get a spot where people could actually paint and get away with it legally."

He met Richard Berkowitz from the Sherman Theater. Richard offered a wall for legal graffiti in the Sherman Theater's fire escape alley. He said, "It's an art form that you don't realize the problem is that there is no outlet for it."

The alley is tucked away. You can't see it from the street. Richard said, "It's not in the community's face but you can definitely see some great artwork."

But before you pick up your paint can you'll need to get a permit inside the Sherman Theater. Richard said, "It's just a quick simple form that says basically you're not gonna take part in illegal graffiti work around town and this is your space."

It's a promise to make graffiti as legal art rather than illegal vandalism.

The project has been in the works for years. The wall doesn't have set operating hours. Artists are simply asked to be respectful of each other when they paint.