An Update on The Graffiti Fence and Inspiring Jewelry
Fence art
The Graffiti Experiment is a project intended to create gang graffiti awareness. I want to inspire positive art and community unity instead of displaying hate or negativity in our urban neighborhoods. Champions for the project have donated money to help pay the fines my homeowners association charged me in order to help keep the fence experiment up for a longer period of time. In special thanks to the champions who are helping me to save the painted fence and supporting my peaceful experiment, I am writing a “Feature of the Month” blog post focused on the champion or the champion’s blog, cause, or company.
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But first an update on the fence; the City of Warrenville sent me a notice and told me that the words “make a diff” sound too much like I am advertising for my business and would need to be immediately changed. Advertising and signs are not supported on fences and I was required to change the words on the fence or pay a fine of up to $750. This is not what I ever intended, as my thought all along has been to inspire change for people to make a difference in our community, but okay – I will change the sign.
Once again, I brought out the very talented local mural artist, Peter Thaddeus, and he covered up the old words “make a diff” (see below). In the top photo you can see how he incorporated even better words into the fence art with “GROW COMMUNITY”. Thank you Mr. Awesome!!
Below is this month’s save-the-fence feature —
Jennifer Lynne contacted me on Facebook and said she really wanted to support the fence for November. She is an independent designer for Origami Owl, which is a pretty amazing jewelry company. Isabella Weems founded Origami Owl when she was 14 years old and had dreams of buying her own car. She’s 17 years old now and Forbes has said that the company is worth $250 million in 2013. Why? Totally cool custom jewelry that designers like Jennifer Lynne can help you put together.
What is the unique part about the jewelry is that it is all inspirational by design. Order an “empowerment tag” and empower a child or friend to achieve their dreams. Put together a locket for a cancer survivor or for a family member that encourages them to believe in themselves. Each jewelry piece is, according to Isabella, “a reminder of who you are, where you have been, where you are going and the dreams you carry in your heart.”
I think Origami Owl is an interesting gift giving idea for the holidays. If you would like to check out the inspiring jewelry so you can inspire a friend or family member to do something amazing for the world, then go to Jennifer’s website. You can put together jewelry right then and there or phone her for assistance.
Jennifer’s website at – http://jenniferlynne.origamiowl.com.
Thanks very much for supporting the fence this month Jennifer – it is really appreciated!!
I have an Origami Owl necklace and LOVE it!
I was thinking of ordering some for my girls for the holidays! I think they’d love the inspiring necklaces. 🙂
There is a reason we don’t have signs and murals on or fences and that is because if you put flowers, someone is going to put sports or a religious message and that might not be something we agree with. There are laws against this and that is one reason. Another reason is it is not aesthetically pleasing when a bunch of people do it. Yours might look fine now, but plenty of people might put up ‘art’ that you don’t find pleasing. To be fair, when there is a law, everyone should support it and obey it. Buying your way out of a law seems like an ethically questionable thing.
I’m not buying my way out of a law. I was fined by my Homeowners Association, not the police. I am paying the fines as required by my HOA’s rules. If I wasn’t paying the fines, then that would be against the rules. I am following the rules related to HOA fines.