Last October, on the heels of 6-year-old Natalie Shea getting slapped on the wrist for her chalk graffiti, Ellis Gallagher was jailed for his own chalk art.
The 34-year-old artist was in the middle of creating a piece as New York Voices documented his process. The cops saw him, tagged him as a graffiti artist, and took him in. After spending 17 hours in jail the charges were dropped -- but the story doesn't end there.
The Village Voice is reporting that Gallagher filed a notice of claim last week, with a plan to sue the city for false arrest, unlawful imprisonment, and pain and suffering. The lawsuit is set to the tune of $5 Million, something Gallagher doesn't expect to receive -- he does, however, hope to prove a point.
He points out that he wants "peace of mind—no fear of arrest or harassment, freedom of expression, knowing that I can go to sleep at night doing what I do without fear of being incarcerated." He works in a water-soluble medium that many would agree should be legal (seriously, stores sell sidewalk chalk!), and his lawyer states that it is, in fact, "perfectly legal". Gallagher adds that, "I think [the NYPD] should reassess their priorities and not waste taxpayer dollars on policing people for chalking sidewalks."
While Gallagher isn't the only one they're busting for chalk crimes (in 2004 Joshua Kinberg landed in the NYPD's secret protest group files for his chalk art bike), they have continued to target him. Soon after he was jailed, he was busted again outlining a shadow in Boreum Hill. Scandalous! Does the city need to take another look at what constitutes graffiti? We think so.
Pictured: Ellis Gallagher, via The NY Times.
