By Alex Syphers

The Central Connecticut State University Art Department held its fourth mural slam on Saturday morning allowing graffiti and mural artists from around the area to converge on the campus and create murals on the walls of the upper level of the Welte Parking Garage.

“You wouldn’t think of CCSU as being on the cutting edge of making art, but through this slam we are able to get this stuff up here and people all over the world see we are doing some amazing and innovative stuff here,” said Mike Alewitz, the Mural Program Director at CCSU.

Armed with respirators and spray cans, the artists hunkered behind their grey concrete walls out of the piercing wind. The rattling cans echoed along the top of the parking garage as over 30 artists continued the transformation of the once barren walls into works of art.

The Mural Slam is an outgrowth of the mural and street art programs at CCSU which provides the universities’ students with the instruction and support to practice the controversial art form.

“There is very little support for this kind of work at any of the other universities. I don’t know of any other universities that have a mural program like this.” said Alewitz, a life-long mural artist.

Many of the other artists at the slam reflected the thought mural painting is controversial and expressed remorse that their way of artistic expression is all too often misunderstood often being slanted as vandalism.

“Unfortunately graffiti has a bad name and is very stereotyped, people don’t understand it,” said Ryan Christenson, a recent graduate of Naugatuck Valley and an eight-year mural artist, “They think of gang graffiti, they think of kids tagging buildings and destroying things, that’s not how a lot of us want it to be looked upon. Events like this definitely provide a chance to prove that the graffiti world is changing.”

While many of the artists were CCSU students, the mural slam attracted artists from all over, with some traveling as far as Boston to participate in the event in an effort to promote the good name of the medium.

According to Alewitz, mural painting is all about public expression, the artists the mural slam wanted to express themselves and make art in a public forum away from the studios and glittering fine art galleries.

“Where do you get a chance to walk around and get to see artists work?” he said.

No one was there Saturday to further their careers or make money, Alewitz said. To the artists it’s about sharing an artistic idea, which everyone throughout the community should be able to enjoy.

“Some of this stuff is really great art and should be supported; unfortunately not all communities do that. One of the things that’s really good about this is that it’s a place where artists can come share, paint and not be victimized, and they can work under safe conditions,” said Alewitz.

The slam provided the artists with a great opportunity to look at different work and learn from each other. Throughout the day cans of paint, spray novels and advice were traded between the artists.

“There’s so much community to it, rarely have I ever gone out to paint alone,” said Cris Carnes, 33, who traveled from Boston to participate in the event.

Some artists created works of art using letters, weaving them together creating a message only an open mind could decipher. Some used the slam as a forum to express political messages, some created scenic murals, while others were there to give people a laugh.

“New Britain should be very proud of these artists, I’m very proud of these artists,” said Alewitz, “Art is something that should be cherished; it is a gift to the world.”