Paying the price for his art, a graffiti tagger looks for a different canvas

CALEXICO, Calif.–When he sees empty walls, Cesar Espinoza starts to picture colorful art and he immediately wants to reach for his miniature spray can to paint graffiti. The problem for this 17-year-old artist is that his passion is illegal – particularly when his canvas is private property. “Tagging,” as graffiti art is called by its practitioners, “makes me feel good because I get to express myself,” said Espinoza. He explained that his creativity expands and his art gets better on the large space of a wall rather than on a piece of paper. Many people, especially the property owners victimized by graffiti artists, might wonder who it is “tagging” their homes, fences, and even their vehicles.  Sitting at a railroad crossing, one might see elaborate lettering in vibrant colors on a train’s cargo cars and wonder what the message is and who the messenger might be.

Facing a Decaying Mural and Fading Message, the Calexico-Mexicali Camaraderie Struggles to Survive

CALEXICO, Calif.–This bustling border town in Southern California’s Imperial Valley was quite different in the 1960s than it is today. People filing through the international port of entry merely had to state where they were born in order to enter the U.S.  Port vehicle traffic flowed in just two lanes rather than snaking through the 12 they have today.  The friendship between Calexico and its sister city, Mexicali, on the Mexican side was so casual, kids in both countries could share what could be called a bi-national game of baseball. But, more than a decade ago a solid brown metal fence was erected as part of Operation Gatekeeper, President Clinton’s answer to stem the tide of illegal immigration from Mexico into the U.S. between California and Texas. “When this fence went up, the ability to perceive and to sense this community, this trans-border community all of a sudden became harder because you couldn’t see across the fence anymore, and so both sides of the border expressed outrage,” Herrera said. Herrera, a history professor at the San Diego State University Calexico campus, was among a small group of citizens who felt saddled by the offending fence, but did not feel they had to settle on its appearance, so they set to work on making it more aesthetically appealing.

The Desert of Inspiration

IMPERIAL VALLEY, Calif. — The U.S. Department of Education in 2003 called the Imperial Valley the most illiterate county in California. Despite that bad rap, however, this desert valley next to Mexico is home to an artistically literate community of young and old poets who say this area gives them uniquely positive and negative inspirations. “The negative is that the valley is boring, isolated and full of mean people,” said Mark Garcia, 42, a poet from Calexico, “while the positive is that it’s peaceful, slow-paced, and there are some nice people as well.  This is what I call my desert of inspiration.”

Poet Sandra Hernandez, 38, of Calexico writes, “I had precious moments, I had terrible heart breaks, I had arrogance thrown at me… In this deserted paradise I call my home”. The valley people, rather than the vast, lonely desert inspire local poets.