ArtsWeek 2008 wraps with Charlie Rose on Sunday March 2

In election years like this one, the word "democracy" is repeated endlessly by radically different people in radically different settings. "Democracy" is spouted so often that the word seems just about worn out. Joe LaMantia, a longtime community artist in Bloomington, Ind., thinks that's been the case for a long time.

"In recent years, I've thought a lot about just what our form of government is in this country," says LaMantia. "We call it democracy, but democracy seems to have lost its meaning, or people have forgotten what it means."

The urge to generate new dialogue about democracy inspired LaMantia to create "Writing on the Wall", a project done in collaboration with Betsy Stirratt, artist and director of IU Bloomington's SoFA gallery and IU's Office of the Vice Provost for Research, along with numerous citizen-artists of Bloomington. The "Writing on the Wall" project, which began in October 2007 and continues into 2008, has given Hoosiers the opportunity to express themselves through the medium of graffiti art. Large blank walls were set up around the Bloomington community and the IU campus. Using paint-sticks and markers, hundreds of passersby-from Buddhist monks to moms with babies-- "tagged" these walls with their personalized thoughts, ideas, and feelings about democracy and the world in which we live.

The resulting murals are covered with responses in dozens of different languages and images of all kinds. These murals are now on display at the School of Fine Arts (SoFA) Gallery through March 7, along with photographs and video of the project. In addition, five graffiti artists were invited to produce their own work for the show.

Along with the walls' visual art, the SoFA installation also features voices "reading the the walls" aloud. This vocal soundtrack-created in partnership with community radio station WFHB-conveys the overwhelming response to "Writing on the Wall" through another dimension.

On February 29, 2008, a special panel discussion about civic engagement, democracy, and the use of art to convey ideas about society and the democratic process will take place in conjunction with the Writing on the Wall exhibition. The panel will feature local and state government representatives and campus experts. A gala reception follows this debate/discussion at 7 p.m.

In months to come, blank walls will move to other IU's campuses and their surrounding communities, along with the commissioned murals. Eventually, the project's collaborators hope to find permanent locations for the graffiti walls and murals in Bloomington to keep this unique dialogue on democracy alive.