By Matthew Laurrie
Features Assignment Editor
The Graffiti that colorfully decorates the outside of buildings and monuments throughout any given city may seem like random acts of vandalism to some people, but a new group on campus sees art as any form of creative expression.
Sophomore Marc Peralta, president and founder of the Urban Art Club, captured the essence of the various ways urban art is created.
“Urban art is a form of expression,” he said. “Usually it’s graffiti, hip-hop, rap, breakdances and stuff in that format…. it’s (also) about spoken word, music and expressing yourself in other forms.”
Peralta, a visual arts major, said he was inspired to bring the concept of urban art to the Bonaventure campus after seeing similar organizations at various colleges.
“Being from New York City and visiting a lot of my friends’ colleges, like New York University, I saw some of the things they were doing with not just urban art, but art in general,” Peralta said. “And I was thinking, why not bring that here at Bonaventure?”
The first large group project the club plans to take on is constructing a mural to honor the memories of artists who died of AIDS and to explore how these artists had a hand in revolutionizing art, according to Peralta.
“We’re going to be working with the Quick Center to do some programs with the artists that had AIDS,” Peralta said. “We’re basically doing this mural. We’re going to put images on to the mural…showing different aspects (of the disease) and basically talking about big epidemic issues that should be addressed. People don’t really like to talk about AIDS, (so this project) will bring awareness to it.”
While initial student turnout at group meetings wasn’t ideal, Peralta said he hopes as the club gains notoriety on campus, students will be more open to attending meetings and helping plan club-sponsored events.
The Urban Art Club is still in the development phase for many of its initiatives and goals, but Peralta said the group has brainstormed ideas it hopes to implement in the future.
“We’re trying to do random acts of art; let’s say on the Hickey lawn, we’ll display a whole bunch of stuff, not sure what yet, but show that we have a statement and get people interested,” he said.
The Urban Art Club meets every Thursday at 4 p.m. in the Loft on the third floor of the Quick Center. The group is not currently chartered by SBU’s Student Government Association (SGA) because Peralta said this semester the group is on a trial-basis before applying to receive SGA funding.
Gilbert Yankson, vice-president of the Urban Art Club, reflected on how the group will help make people more appreciative of artistic expression.
“The club will enrich the Bonaventure campus community by bringing together students with a common interest and also get people involved and meet new students,” said Yankson, a sophomore sports studies major. “The club is also a way to bring some diversity to the campus and expand people’s knowledge about urban arts.”
Ultimately, Peralta said he hopes to impact the campus community in a positive and creative way through the Urban Art Club. The group is ready to leave its mark on St. Bonaventure.
