LOGAN SQUARE — The peak of the historic facade of the Congress Theater was defaced with graffiti this week, leaving a prominent mark on the 88-year-old venue.

The triangular pediment at the top of the theater at 2135 N. Milwaukee Ave., which sits some 40 feet off the ground, was spray-painted blue and gray with the letters “BBK KYM." The letters stand for two graffiti crews.

Bboy B, a member of one of the city’s oldest graffiti groups, Artistic Bombing Crew, said he wasn't behind the Congress incident. But he maintains that "people don’t understand that graffiti writers are like art students, but the school and classroom is the streets, the homework is your [sketchbook], and the test is putting down the paint.”

“It is illegal, but this is the process,” he said.

Under a new proposal announced by Mayor Rahm Emanuel in June, fines for graffiti would double from $750 to at least $1,500, with a maximum fine of $2,500 for repeat offenders. Fines for vandalizing public property would also double from $500 to $1,000.

Bboy, a longtime Logan Square resident who works on commissioned neighborhood art and murals these days, recently helped organize a dance and graffiti "Battle for the Eagle" in Logan Square proper, an effort created as an outlet for underserved neighborhood kids. He noted that neighborhood art shops like Galerie F commission large outdoor pieces and popularize the medium through its gallery.

“The neighborhood welcomes all the artists and gallery shows that go on [in Logan Square], so they must know that true writers went through this process to make the wonderful art displayed in all of those galleries and with permission on walls,” he said. “Graffiti is an artistic style that takes years to cultivate and master.”

The Congress, which has been shut down for about a year, was the focus of attention recently after it was revealed that the city and the theater's owner signed an agreement banning electronic dance music there, even for future owners.

The document was signed by Congress owner Eddie Carranza and the City of Chicago.

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