How persistent graffiti inspired a philosophy . . .

That blue house — https://goo.gl/maps/wQKJb3kESXn Credit: WildClutter

When I first visited RIT in summer 2006, I passed a run down house with a tag that just would never go away. Every few months the owners painted over the graffiti, only for it to return typically within days or even hours. Without fail, for over 10 years the same persistent tag could not be wiped away, pushed around or ignored.

On a prominent road on the way into campus, we all passed it daily. Rochester is a town known for top notch street art, adorning forgotten rust belt infrastructure.

Take a walk around the Water Towers in Cobbs Hill Park; every inch adorned with drippy colors, riveting textures and a constantly rotating collection. To the grit and the mud of a subway exhibit hall. Forgotten, below city streets abuzz with traffic.

Rochester can be cold, but it is always colorful. A rusty wonder land with so much to explore. So when you pass by that blue house with the tag that seems so careless, a lot of people don’t stop to consider the words.

Make Moves Son!

That saying become my mantra. To me it is a call to action, to keep your chin up and your focus clear. The tagger’s ceaseless performance, a master class in consistency.

The moral, persistence.

Inspired me to stay true to my goals and never give up, never stop and above all else: Make Moves Son.

For the students and alumnis at Rochester Institute of Technology, we’ll never forget that unofficial mascot. So I hope they keep covering it, only to emerge the next day. Ensuring for a while that motto will always have a clean space to stay.

#MakeMovesSon