This one-of-a-kind California park encourages graffiti art on its walls. Here’s why

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Imagine a public space where graffiti artists are encouraged to pick up spray cans and cover walls.

It exists at a Fresno area park — and attracts dozens of graffiti artists and hundreds of visitors every year thanks to its quarter-mile wall that artists can rent for a small fee.

“It is the only venue of its kind in all of California that hosts that size of a wall and then the continuous formation of that wall,” said Modesto resident Serena “Rain” Lujan, who is also the founder the Bizare Arts Festival, an annual graffiti and hip hop festival held at Calwa Park every January. Plus, it’s centrally located for artists from the Los Angeles and Bay Area to gather. “That was just the perfect place.”

Fresno muralist Hana Luna Her, 25, grew up visiting Calwa Park. She said the park provides a space for young people who might otherwise turn to vandalism or tagging.

“It’s colorful, it’s provocative, it’s in your face,” she said. “And it really represents who’s here.”

Founded in 1955, the independent Calwa Park is operated by the Calwa Recreation and Park District with the mission to provide recreational facilities and programs for the surrounding community. Calwa is an unincorporated Fresno County community that developed around the Santa Fe Railroad corridor. The area today is largely Latino.

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The park’s creation was inspired by an incident involving a neighborhood child who died while playing in one of the commercial buildings nearby. The railroad donated land for a community park in the mid-1950s, according to the park’s website.

On any given day, joggers in sweatpants run laps around the park, children play on the park’s playground and teens shoot hoops on the basketball court or grab snacks at the built-in taquería.

The unique park is also the only place on the West Coast with a quarter-mile long art wall where artists can paint for a small fee, Lujan said.

She created the graffiti art event in 2013 in honor of her brother, Salvador “Bizare” Lujan, a graffiti artist who in 1986 founded a well-known Bay Area-based graffiti crew called Lords Crew, which today has chapters in Fresno and nationwide (LORDS stands for Legends Of Rare DesignS). Her brother died of a heart attack in 2013 and she wanted to find a way to honor his graffiti legacy.

Last year’s festival attracted over 80 artists and 1,500 visitors, she said. Next year will be the festival’s twelfth year.

Park District Administrator Tim Chapa has been playing soccer at Calwa Park since the late 1970s. He said that growing up, he didn’t always consider graffiti to be art because it was associated with gangs and taggers. But his perception has evolved over the years.

“Any location in Fresno where you can have artists coming together to show their artwork — it’s a benefit to the community,” he said. “I think it’s wonderful that we provide that opportunity.”

How did the graffiti wall come to be?

Graffiti artist and Lords crew member Eric Drane, 51, said he remembers doing required community service hours at Calwa Park when he “got into trouble” in the mid-1990s as a budding graffiti artist.

He estimates the art wall got its start in the mid-2000s.

“I think that somebody that was doing community service there just approached them about it,” he recalled.

Drane thinks the park’s art wall and the festival are crucial to changing the perceptions around graffiti — and for strengthening community ties.

“It’s really important especially for Fresno in an educational way because the public gets to kind of see what happens out there,” he said. But beyond the festival, he doesn’t think professional graffiti artists use the Calwa Art Wall often.

“Graffiti, being what it is, you don’t pay to paint. It’s a very odd thing to pay for your space. It’s completely unheard of,” he said.

But the Calwa Art Wall is also a space for budding artists, not just professionals.

“The last time we had someone come here was two weekends ago, and he was a seventh grader from Clovis (Unified),” Chapa said. “Not the typical graffiti artist that you would expect, but his parents were out here supporting him.”

Drane thinks with the right support and leadership, and spaces like Calwa Park, Fresno could become an important hub for graffiti art — as well as an economic boost to the region.

“It’d be amazing for Fresno to essential to become a mural festival destination like they do with (international art festival) Art Basel,” he said. “We’re central located. It’s such an easy spot for everybody.”

Lujan agrees. She said graffiti artists who have learned of the wall make it a point to stop in Calwa to paint, and eat at local establishments and stay in local hotels and short-term rental spaces like Airbnb.

“We’re definitely putting Calwa on the map,” she said. “And Fresno.”

Renovations under way at Calwa park

Chapa said the park district is working with the nonprofit organization Fresno Building Healthy Communities on a nearly $7 million renovation project thanks to a state grate.

The renovations — which will be the first major upgrades since the 1950s — will include a new state-of-the-art playground, picnic area, gathering plaza and walking loop.

The park is also getting a new swimming pool, thanks to a community grant from Kaiser Permanente.

Building plans have been approved and the project is now out to bid. Chapa said estimates construction will start around October or November.

To paint at the Calwa Art Wall, contact park adminstrators at info@calwarecreation.org or 559.264.6867. Pricing ranges from $15 to $40 depending on the wall size. Art will stay up for a minimum of 2 weeks.