High school students can recognize graffiti when they see it. They can also surmise that it is an art form that its makers spend a lot of time honing and working on, no matter their canvas.

Students at Butler Senior High School learned about graffiti Thursday, April 30, and put their own touches on an art piece they created alongside a student empowerment group, which will be hung in the school.

As one of the organizers with the Light Education Initiative, which organized Thursday’s activity, said, graffiti is a tangible way students can see their contributions to a positive change within their school and community.

Plus, at their education level and age, high schoolers may find a passion for an art form they never before considered a creative outlet. The Light Education Initiative also demonstrated graffiti is not just spray painting public spaces, it can be a way of improving the space around you.

The artist, Scott Brozovich, said he was able to make a profession out of his passion, which could be the exact kind of tangible evidence to give a high school student a light bulb moment. They, too, can pursue their passions, even once they get out of high school when they have to make it in adulthood. Sometimes exposure is the best teacher, because a young person can find a passion for something in themselves just by seeing someone else do it.

Some of the students may have never even thought of the human behind the creation and Brozovich’s willingness to offer his expertise to people who have never before touched a spray can is a great example of an artist. It shows there is a way to chase your passions, even after you walk out of high school and are expected to keep up with rent payments, utility bills and personal health and stability.

Maybe emptying a can of paint onto a surface is just the activity you need to fill your heart.

— ET