Nation of Graffiti Artists

(2021)

NOGA, the Nation of Graffiti Artists, was an artist’s workshop located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and later on, in the Bronx. It was the utopian vision of Jack Pelsinger, who begged the city for a studio where kids of all talent levels could further their interests in the arts.

Photojournalist Michael Lawrence documented the experiment from 1974 to 1979. NOGA’s focus was teaching neighborhood kids how to paint, blending the boundaries between workshop and radical politics think-tank as kids were taught to bring their artwork to local protests, sell their canvases in street fairs, and exhibit murals on buildings. It was a lesson in creative capitalism but for most of the participants, the true payoff was in finding their voice.

The second edition was published by Beyond The Streets & Gingko Press in 2023 and is packed with additional photography by Moses Ross and Gianfranco Gorgoni. ISBN: 9781584237792.

Authors: Chris Pape, Michael Lawrence
Publisher: Beyond The Streets
Published: October 2021
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
Size: 20.3 x 27.9 cm
Pages: 152
Edition of: 400

Manhattan NOGA