Author: Kerry Crawford

As Memphians, we have a lot to be proud of. We’re a city of grit, determination, and strength, a city that’s welcoming, selfless, and large-hearted. We excel at being in this thing together, for better or worse, and it’s no different around the holidays. I’ve been thinking about some of the many ways we can give back to the city this month — through our actions, through sharing resources, or through giving time.

So here, in no particular order, are a handful of local organizations that could use your help this holiday season. These are by no means all of them (as listing all of them could easily fill this whole issue). These are just a few of the many that are changing Memphis for the better that you may not know about.

It’s terrifying and tough to be in the hospital with a sick kid. The Forrest Spence Fund provides assistance with the nonmedical needs (meaning: care baskets, counseling and grants for families with chronically ill kids) of families with critically and chronically ill children. They can always use donations, but if you’d like to do something more, you could knit a baby blanket, collect items for family baskets, or prepare a craft or activity for families at a monthly Le Bonheur and FedEx Family House dinner.

If you’d like to help out Memphis’ four-legged friends, consider giving to the Streetdog Foundation. They’re not a shelter, but they do rescue local stray dogs, rehabilitate them, and try to find them forever homes. The foundation is always looking for adoptive dog parents, but if that’s not a good fit for you, you can always volunteer, foster a dog for as long as you’re able, or donate cash or items from their wish list (like dog toys, tennis balls, crates, and treats).

For those of you who want to contribute to making Memphis a healthier city, check out Revolutions Community Bicycle Shop. The shop, which has been open since 2002, seeks to provide bicycles to Memphians in need, particularly the city’s working poor, who hugely benefit from reliable transportation. Revolutions doesn’t just hand people bicycles, they require them to build their own, and in the process, learn bike maintenance and safety. If you’d like to help, they need used bikes and bike parts. (Don’t be shy — they’ll take pretty much anything from the lovingly maintained to completely busted.)

You don’t have to give “things” to make a difference. You can always give an experience. Volunteer Odyssey (VO)encourages people who are between jobs or just starting their careers to spend a full week volunteering with local charities. The benefit is twofold — organizations get dedicated volunteer hours, and young professionals get an experience that will help them grow and set them apart when they look for future work. During their volunteer odyssey, participants share their stories via blogs on the VO website. You can help out by volunteering a week (and writing about it) or donating some cash; it costs about $2,000 for the VO crew to provide each experience.

Speaking of giving experiences, Roots Memphis Farm Academy is a wonderful organization that teaches wannabe farmers how to sustainably grow their own food and run their businesses. Over the course of eight months, the Academy blends education (including writing a business plan and finance lessons) with incubation, allowing students to get practice runs at their farms before launching the real thing. If you’d like to help, you can give your favorite foodie the gift of a Roots Memphis CSA — a weekly share of the crops grown by student farmers.

Lastly, consider giving to the Mid-South Food Bank. I know it’s not an under-the-radar sort of charity, but it’s one that can use your help, especially right now when they’re trying to provide holiday meals to hungry and food-insecure Memphians. They’re in need of nonperishable food items (especially high-protein foods like peanut butter) and people to help in their office with everything from consulting to IT. They also accept monetary donations online. And, because of their food bank status, they can make every dollar stretch into three meals for a hungry local family.

If none of these organizations is your personal thing, there are dozens more that could use your help, however you can give it. Happy holidays, y’all.

For the past month, world-renowned British street artist, Banksy, has taken up residence in New York City, adding one new piece of work every day to the city’s landscape. The works range from his signature stencils to performance pieces like the Grim Reaper driving a bumper car to Blue Öyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper” and “Sirens of the Lambs,” a slaughterhouse delivery truck festooned with stuffed lambs, chickens, and cows. They are posted to the artist’s website with their locations daily.

I’ve been following the residency (which is called “Better Out Than In”), and it’s got me thinking about street art in Memphis. More specifically, what would happen if Banksy did a Memphis residency?

Would we notice? Would we care? Would the work be treasured or destroyed?

I asked local street artist Nosey (he asked that his real name not be used) what he thought would happen if Banksy came to Memphis. “I think he would have plenty of material [to work with], since most of his work is social commentary,” he said. “But I think most of it would get painted over pretty quickly.”

While Nosey doesn’t have Banksy’s worldwide recognition, his work is Memphis famous. He’s made work all over the city, starting with traditional graffiti tagging and recently moving into more poignant, socially conscious work, like a mural of a rat skeleton near East High. It’s correctly labeled with anatomical names and was inspired by the recent school system merger and the students he works with as a community developer in Orange Mound.

Now’s probably a good time to talk about the difference between graffiti and street art. I turned to the internet for a good definition of what counts as street art and what counts as graffiti and found GraffitiActionHero.org‘s list of eight qualifications. Among them: “Street art adorns the urban landscape; graffiti tagging scars it and accelerates urban decay.” And, “Street art was done with a smile; graffiti tagging was done with a scowl.” Also, “Street art takes skill; graffiti tagging takes balls.”

I think the smile thing is key. Banksy’s work makes you think and smile. My favorite pieces of local street art — the balloon-toting squirrels that popped up all over town last year and the “Invest in Good Times” mural on Tennessee Street downtown — definitely fit the bill. Both were done without permission, but I’ve yet to hear anyone say that a less than two-foot-tall stencil of a squirrel fills them with rage.

As with most art, though, the difference between street art and graffiti is in the eye of the beholder or, in this case, the property owner. In New York, authorities haven’t been able to arrest Banksy because 1) they can’t catch him, and 2) there haven’t been any complaints from private property owners.

In Memphis, it’s a little different. I asked Ben Avant, president of the South Main Association, which is in one of Memphis’ major arts neighborhoods, what he thinks about street art. “I am highly in favor of street art in and around South Main, but the guerrilla-style graffiti art that some people peddle is obscene and should be prevented,” he said, via email. “If an artist is honest with himself, he should be confident enough to approach an owner of some building and propose his intentions, but when this is done under the veil of darkness and ends up costing the owner money to cover it up, it’s wrong.”

I understand where he’s coming from. As the leader of a neighborhood association, he doesn’t want anything in the area that could hurt business or tourism. But I can also see Nosey’s point. When I asked him about a mural he painted on a stairwell in South Main, he said, “I was kind of shocked they painted over it, because I thought if anywhere would appreciate it, it would be an arts district.”

A vibrant, interesting, and creative city includes compelling, thoughtful, fun street art. The question becomes one of balance: How can Memphis find a way to keep (and, dare I suggest, encourage) interesting and well-made street art, created with or without permission, while discouraging tagging or gang-related graffiti?