Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Howard.
Hi Michael, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I was driving up the 405 freeway to visit my parents in Venice Beach on a summer day in 1992. Some spray-painted red lettering caught my eye. It was done on an electrical box. Nothing to out of the ordinary at the time. But this lettering spoke to me – it was a cry for help. I didn’t understand it right away, but it was a profound experience. I realized that whoever did this was so broken that spray painting on a box made them feel just a little better about themselves. Like they mattered and wanted to be noticed.
After the weekend, I returned to my position as a teacher at the juvenile hall in Orange County and asked each class of students about graffiti. I was curious, and they had a lot to say. Many of them had first-hand experience. I put together a questionnaire to learn more about it and tossed in a question asking what was something they wanted to do in their spare time. I found it interesting that doing public art came up as a frequent answer.
I looked into what was being done locally to prevent graffiti and discovered it wasn’t much. Stiffening penalties and having parents of vandals do public service of graffiti removal were a couple of options. Nothing to address the root cause. Teenagers looking for ways to express themselves.
Operation Clean Slate was created out of dining room table conferences with other teachers. A program was formed, and murals were the highlight. Gathering students to create a design and work together to ‘legally’ beautify a school, park or community center.
Getting permission to paint on a wall? That was the hard part. After a lot of rejection I understood the feeling that the graffiti artist and taggers must feel. Most people were not open to public art. A fear I would later prove false was that murals bring more graffiti. The opposite is what I have discovered in the 31 years since founding this nonprofit organization.
Inviting students prone to graffiti, along with students doing well in school, to work side by side to create a work of art that the entire school can enjoy was a winning combination. Participants gained a sense of accomplishment and belonging to their school. They felt pride when seeing what they helped bring to life. The murals remain graffiti-free for years. Mainly out of respect for fellow classmates who helped create the works of art.
It certainly hasn’t been easy. The challenge and belief in what I was doing kept me going in those rough periods. Each time I felt like quitting a check would arrive in the mail or someone would call out of the blue asking for a mural.
And today, things are going very well. Corporate sponsors have bounced back from the Covid Days and are ready to roll up their sleeves and help make a difference. I organize projects for these ‘big kids’ and we have them participate just as we do students, to create murals at schools. It’s a win-win situation with a positive result every time.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There have been many struggles along the way. Learning how to do large-scale art was a challenging task. Getting permission for painting on walls was very difficult. Raising money to buy paint and keep things going was extremely tough along the way. Covid was a bummer – it stopped us in our tracks. We couldn’t get on a school campus anywhere. But once we did we found ourselves painting interactive pathways on the playground surface, which allowed students to play and maintain a safe distance. Sometimes the design approval process is time-consuming, and it continues to be an obstacle at times even today.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
This organization was created out of the need to solve a community problem – graffiti – and evolved into a campus and community beautification program where art provides bright colors and positive messages for everyone.
We are small and yet have a major impact on students, schools, and communities. Our artwork is seen by hundreds of thousands of students and the general population every day.
Our approach isn’t the first or only of its kind, but our continued method of involving youth and adults in community art is a beautiful thing.
We make it fun, and we get it done! We want everyone who participates with Operation Clean Slate to enjoy the process of painting. We help people find success in their contributions to bringing the mural to life.
We have painted with toddlers to 94-year-old, with special needs children, deaf students, blind students, and even a child who painted with her feet. We welcome anybody and everybody.
We have painted over 1580 murals mostly in southern California, and in many other US states and even have a mural on 6 of the 7 continents. Antarctica is on our future mural list. Anyone know someone who can arrange a mural there?
I’m very proud to have teamed up with Home Depot to beautify Veteran Centers across the US. We teamed up with hundreds of HD affiliate volunteers and created large scale murals that brightened up their living areas. Many veterans were very appreciative that they had something enjoyable to look at every day. It made a significant and lasting impact on them.
The art we create often has important messages associated with the graphics, like Being Kind, Saving Water, Staying Healthy, Being Responsible, Respectful, and Safe, to name a few.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I always do what I say I’m going to do. I have never quit on a project, regardless of the circumstances and difficulties.
My goal is to assist participants in having a positive experience – overcoming fears of making a mistake, climbing a ladder or in their words, “ruining the mural”.
I make it a point to over-deliver. I often go above and beyond the scope of work we agreed on.
Focusing on others having a good experience is one of the reasons our corporate sponsors return again for more fun!
And sticking with it… otherwise, I would have closed shop years ago!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.OperationCleanSlate.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/operationcleanslate
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-howard-55453190/
Image Credits
Michael Howard, Cliff Black
