Own Original Graffiti, Give a Kid a Helping Hand

Documentary director Lance Crayon just premiered his new film, Spray Paint Beijing, the first doc to cover Beijing's vibrant street art scene. But beyond that, Crayon also cares to help connect local graffiti artists with the community. Read on to see how you can own an original work of graffiti art (on a canvas, not your wall), and help out kids whose parents are in jail.

A mishmash of crews worked together at the film's screening event to create four huge (1.8m x 3m) original graffiti works on canvas (and yes, they did it live, with an audience). You can check out details about each print here, and you can also bid on them until Sunday, July 1. The prints cost RMB 1,500 to produce (canvas, paints and delivery to your home), so anything above that goes straight to Morning Tears, an organization that offers support to children whose parents are in prison.

As of this article's posting, bids are ranging from RMB 1900 - 3000, which is no small sum but also quite a steal for original work by artists like Beijing Penzi, Qwan-Yin Crew, ABS Crew, Biskit and others. If you're a fan of street art and have high hopes for the future development of Beijing's scene, this might be a good investment. Then, of course, there's the charity angle, which always gets us right here [points to heart].

If this is just way out of your range, you can also buy Spray Paint Beijing posters to decorate your room/dorm/hutong. They go for RMB 50 and Morning Tears gets it all. Once again, the link to the website where you can bid and purchase posters is here.

Photos: Courtesy of Lance Crayon and artists