Brent Ellis and Amanda Jabbour
A small gathering of youth and youth supporters organized in front of the Sault Ste. Marie Courthouse today. Whether he intended to or not, 18 year old Kurt Stone sparked a movement when he was arrested and exposed as the ‘BORED’ graffiti artists responsible for 40 tags and artwork of the word around the Sault Ste. Marie businesses, bridges, dilapidated buildings and some boxcars.
The community is divided about what should be done with young Stone with many calling for the book to be tossed hard at him and others encouraging leniency and understanding, drawing attention to his talent and potential. An informal collection of young people –and their supporters, have coalesced on a boredyouthsault Facebook page and are using the platform to voice their frustrations, support and solutions to the endemic message- the youth in the Sault have a stake in Sault Ste. Marie and want more engagement at the City level.
Amanda Jabbour co-organized the event at the Courthouse today and is an administrator with the boredyouthsault Facebook page. “We stand in solidarity with the BORED message that has been masterpieced all over Sault Ste. Marie. We need youth engagement in the Sault and a safe place for youth to attend. A youth walk in centre would be ideal for this City. I think it’s very important and it’s evident that it’s needed. The youth are the future and we need to guide them and love them and protect them. We need a walk in centre where a youth can walk in, anytime and speak with a loving adult –that’s what I want to see. Enough with the programming where you have to wait months to talk to someone. The youth need a place where they can immediately talk to someone.”
Photography by, Caleb Manitowabi Photography.
Jabbour reinforced that the movement focuses on creating space and place for young people. “Boredyouthsault does not think that vandalism, trespassing, defacing property is the right thing to do. Kurt is dealing with his negative consequences right now in that Courthouse but this gathering, this movement is his positive consequence. There’s good and bad with everything. And this is good because his artwork has sparked a movement. It’s really changing the way people see youth engagement in this City.”
The group intends to pursue the City for a discussion about what youth want and for a meaningful role in contributing to decisions that will affect youth- as well as the community. “The more people we get engaged the better- we plan on growing from here. Next- are the letters to the Mayor. I’m going to drop them off – we have the numbers, people are interested in a youth centre. We’ll keep creating data and hopefully start working with our Council and Mayor and get more youth on board that want to be leaders in this process.”
Kurt Stone is scheduled to appear before the court on June 27th, 2016.
“I feel that this City claims itself to be ‘Naturally Gifted’ –on what basis? We have a Steel Plant. Are we naturally gifted because of Lake Superior? There wasn’t a protest by the City about wind turbines along the north shore of Lake Superior. What about the youth in this City? We use to be able to ski at Landslide during the week but the City has let it die for the sake of the cost of insurance –and we’re on the brink of losing Searchmont. There really isn’t much for the youth. When a young kid like this stands up- and I saw his work and I thought it was beautiful and I thought this kid is really talented. Why aren’t we encouraging this sort of thing- not necessarily on downtown buildings, but maybe building that are going to be torn down? We need to give something to kids in this City to expand their creative talents. I’m for the kids, I always have been my entire life.” ~ Brian Mealey
“I support street art. I support art in general. I want to be here. I want to show my support. I think Kurt’s situation sucks. Getting busted for trying to bring a bit of beauty in to the City is a terrible thing. I can understand somewhat the other side of it- there is a lot of vandalism around. But everything that I’ve seen is beautiful, it’s wonderful. And the fact that he’s writing the word ‘bored’ says a lot for the youth in this City. They need somewhere to go and something to do.” ~ Brent Ellis
“Lived in North Bay and Sudbury for a while. I’ve lived in other cities where there are youth centres and issues like this never arise. In Sudbury there’s a lot of artwork like that on the walls. I think there are other things to arrest people on in the Sault. That it should take this much effort to create a youth centre for young people in the Sault is very disappointing.” ~Kristine Jabbour
“The youth are our future. I support the fact that not all youth want to play sports. I think the arts are just as important. This young man is an artist and while I don’t agree with the method that he has taken, I do believe that he is a catalyst for change. He has brought a lot of attention to this issue.” ~Bonnie Baranski
3 Comments
a bored privleged kid, awww too bad!!!!!!!
Let’s not diminish the break and enter charges. Poor boy “BORED”. If they are so bored maybe they could join what the young men and women joined on the monument they are protesting in front of. The world is not here to provide amusement for you.
He wont be bored well hes cleaning his tags up….although they look cool im sure the property ownes dont like it