Graffiti In The Big Ditch Silver City, New Mexico

Graffiti festival seeks artist submissions
Written by Stewart McClintic on October 4, 2016 

Graffiti is technically illegal within the town limits of Silver City, New Mexico but for three days this month there will be several spaces dedicated to legal graffiti during the second annual Fiesta Pequeña Del Grafito, or the Little Graffiti Festival, which takes place Oct. 20 to 22.

Last year, the festival was hosted at an underpass in the Big Ditch and it was so successful that this year’s festival will be three full days instead of just one evening.

This year’s event will host two “free play” sites for anyone who wants to participate in creating graffiti on a legal space, in addition to two closed sites for which artists will have to apply to use.

Festival organizers are seeking artists who are interested in being featured at one of the two closed sites, which have not been released yet. Work can be submitted to festival organizers either via Instagram @fiesta_grafito or via the group’s Facebook page, FiestaGrafito, or by emailing social media manager, Kendra Milligan, at kendraclone@gmail.com. The deadline to apply is Oct. 8. Artists will be contacted by Oct. 10.

Milligan said the submissions received so far include out-of-town graffiti artists and all entries have been fabulous. The exact locations of the sites will be released a week prior to the event on the group’s Instagram and Facebook pages.

“They’re kind of secretive for now because they don’t want people going to mess with them,” Milligan said. “But there will be two sites at WNMU, one downtown and another underpass, just like last year.”

The festival is funded entirely by donations from community members and costs very little to put on, Milligan said. Supplies will be available for free at all sites, she said, but participants are also welcome to bring their own or drop off supplies to donate. Fumes were a concern for some last year, Milligan said, but this year fans and masks will be available.

Milligan hopes that this year’s event turns out well and believes it will with all of the support from the town, the Silver City Police Department, WNMU and the New Mexico Department of Transportation — which owns the underpass sites that will be used.

“We were also able to get better sites this year because last year went so well.”
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