Tagging Fail: How To Keep Your Music Venue Free Of Graffiti

While bouncers and indoor surveillance cameras do a good job of protecting your music venue and the guests inside of it, you may be overlooking the outside of your club. Night after night, the outside walls of your business run the risk of serving as a graffiti artist’s canvas. Graffiti is unsightly and sometimes difficult to remove, so it’s important you take steps to prevent problems.

Add Plants

Graffiti artists can’t paint what they can’t reach. Make your walls harder to reach and see while adding greenery to the area with plants. Install flower beds or boxes along your exterior walls and fill them with trees, shrubs or climbing vines. This will form a natural barrier around your walls to help keep them safe. If you opt for this approach, remember to stay on top of your landscaping maintenance. Keep your plants trimmed away from sidewalks and walkways and choose varieties that won’t drop fruit or other litter on the ground. Evergreens are an excellent low-maintenance option.

Paint Smart

Dark paint colors make graffiti harder to see and easier to paint over. Many graffiti artists simply skip dark walls and target lighter colors that will more readily showcase their work. Whatever paint color you choose, choose an anti-graffiti paint. These products create a non-stick surface that repels spray paint and cleans up easily.

Beef up Security

Since graffiti is illegal, perpetrators tag walls they can get to quickly and discretely. Make your building a far less appealing target by installing lots of outdoor lighting and security cameras. Install a few cameras (or fake ones) in highly visible areas so painters looking for a target know you’ll catch them on camera if they color your walls.

Embrace the Medium

Depending on the look and feel of the neighborhood, you may find it easier to embrace graffiti rather than curb it. Some venues now offer permission walls where they welcome graffiti on a certain wall or in a specified spot. Encouraging locals to create or contribute to a mural on your walls takes away the thrill for mischief-seekers while embracing locals who are serious about what they view as their art.

If you do get tagged, remove the graffiti as soon as you can. It’s easiest to remove within the first 24 hours. Mineral spirits, oven cleaner and turpentine all cut graffiti, as do cleaning products made for that purpose. After cleaning up the mess, start implementing anti-graffiti measures right away to prevent future incidents.

Tagging Fail: How To Keep Your Music Venue Free Of Graffiti