Beaverton students learn graffiti as an art form

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- When Angel Vargas was younger and going back and forth between his mom and dad's house, he would look out the car window and see the graffiti on the freeway. He grabbed a sketchbook and searched 'graffiti lettering' online. But without guidance, he lost interest.

Until a teacher invited him to the after-school Cada Casa CANS Spray Can Art Class at Beaverton High School.

"At the time I was working on learning calligraphy, like cursive calligraphy, and it sounded interesting," the sophomore told KOIN 6 News. "So I signed up and I came and I kept coming to each class and that's what gave me motivation to start practicing again and improve my styles a lot."

Vargas was always interested in art but struggled with it in regular art class.

"I just feel like I don't understand it. But in here, in CANS, I feel like I understand everything. They work with us, they teach us and they really understand you here. And it's just more of a one-on-one connection," he said.

The instructor, OC Note, is a graffiti artist, muralist and role model. He did his first mural at 13.

"That came from an art teacher believing in me and giving me that opportunity. I wanted to give that same experience to other kids and other people around me," Note said.

He knows too well the temptations of a teenager.

"I was just a teenager a couple years ago, so I understand human nature and also teenage nature that if you tell them not to do something, they're going to want to at least try it," Note said. "So in our class we never explicitly tell them to do graffiti. We also never tell them not to do graffiti. We don't want to push them into feeling boxed in. We just simply provide them a safe space to try it."

Every other week he teaches the students proper technique.

"A lot of the skills that you learn in CANS, they don't have to take you in just one direction of learning graffiti lettering," he tells the students.

Those skills are applicable to many genres. "You work to get past that point of not being good at something, you end up unlocking this new level of yourself and teaching yourself that you can get better," he said.

Graffiti involves a unique blend of visual creativity, technical skill and even an understanding of design elements like color theory, shading and composition.

Programs like Cada Casa CANS teach students these skills in a constructive way, turning what could be risky or illegal into a positive learning experience. These programs bridge the gap between the cultural value of graffiti as an art form and the potential consequences of its unsanctioned practice. It's an approach to supporting at-risk youth, building artist skills and promoting a sense of community.

Note told the students the class provides "a safe space for you to do it somewhere where you won't put yourself in harm's way and you'll also have the proper safety equipment and materials to learn."

And the students, he said, can leverage what they learn in a real world way. In fact, this past summer OC Note and his students -- including Angel Vargas -- turned an eyesore into art, painting a Portland Timbers mural at the Tursi Soccer Store near Providence Park.

Through street art, Vargas has found a sense of belonging.

"We all got to work on something that we all love. We all got to share that connection and stuff," he said. "I've seen murals in Portland and stuff and I always think they're so cool and I would've never thought that I would do one day. It is pretty crazy to me."

The opportunity opened the sophomore's eyes and "honestly changed my perspective on what I want to do for my career because working on the mural, they ended up paying us and they paid us a pretty good amount and it showed me that I can get paid good to do what I love."

It's that kind of passion and perseverance that OC Note is trying to foster.

"Some of our students go on to be designers, some of them makeup artists, some of them nail technicians. And it's all from that love of symmetry and good lettering and color blending and color theory, 3Ds and dimensions," Note said. "All that love is found here in sort of graffiti lettering, but they can take it in any direction they want."

Through street art, Note is showing the students the sky is the limit.