In Ann Arbor’s Graffiti Alley, some say ‘Farts’ is art, others say it stinks

ANN ARBOR, MI — It was about a year ago when someone first covered Ann Arbor’s Graffiti Alley with “Farts,” repeatedly spray-painting the word hundreds of times over.

While it amused some alley visitors who couldn’t help but chuckle at the silliness of it, others saw it as defacing a beloved exhibit of street art and hurting the alley.

A year later, whoever is behind “Farts” is still relentlessly painting the tag on the walls, ground and ceiling in the alley off Liberty Street, repeatedly covering over other graffiti artwork.

The phenomenon, unlike anything Graffiti Alley has seen in decades, continues to generate mixed reactions and online chatter, including one Reddit thread dubbing it “Farts Wars.”

Some say “Farts” is art, while others say it stinks.

“I love seeing Ann Arbor people upset by this tbh. They want weird, they want quirky, but not too weird or quirky,” one Reddit user wrote.

“There’s a bit of art in every Fart,” another added, while someone else said the artist was going to “catch heat” and was “asking for smoke” by tagging over other artists’ work so much.

But his style is pretty good and the town needs more of the fun drama he’s providing, the same person added.

Not everyone agrees.

“Graffiti Alley in Ann Arbor Sucks Now,” blogger Michael DeFranceschi titled a blog post in April, saying the alley is losing its artistic integrity and “Farts” is making it worse.

“Sure, who among us hasn’t found flatulence funny at some point in our lives?” he wrote. “But to spray paint it almost everywhere — in a public space devoted to human creativity — is outright obnoxious.”

While the debate rages, the identity of the artist behind “Farts” remains somewhat of a mystery, but those who’ve met him say he’s a local, middle-aged dad named Ryan.

“I met him and I shook his hand because I was like, oh my gosh, you’re the famous farts guy,” Colin Spry, who considers himself Graffiti Alley’s unofficial tour guide, said of his first encounter with the “Farts” artist.

“He’s probably in his late 40s, he’s got salt-and-pepper hair and a shaved face, like a 5 o’clock shadow,” said Spry, who regularly hangs out in Graffiti Alley and tells visitors about the artwork.

“I’ve been coming to this alley for a long time, because for the past several years I’ve been homeless and this has kind of been my spot,” he said while hanging out and smoking with friends in the alley on a recent evening.

When “Farts” first arrived in full force, everyone was confused about it, Spry said. For a while, there was a rumor the unknown artist was a guy from Puerto Rico, he said, saying he heard that from someone and repeated it on alley tours. Then the artist himself eventually corrected him.

“He actually came to see me,” Spry said. “And he was like, ‘I love that you’re telling people that, I think it’s hilarious — my kids come home and ask me am I really from Puerto Rico.’ “

To maintain a low profile and avoid being harassed, the “Farts” artist comes to the alley randomly late at night, Spry said, adding he has “investors” helping fund paint supplies.

One Reddit user posted an image of a “Farts” flier soliciting donations via Cash App to purchase more paint to “bring joy to the community through art,” saying the artist came into their businesses and handed it out.

“He’s dedicated,” Spry said, noting it required hauling in a ladder to do some of the “Farts” high up in the alley.

“There are people who feel like it ruined their art and I get that,” Spry said, though he doesn’t think “Farts” is inherently offensive.

Matthew Moy, who was hanging with Spry in the alley on a recent evening, said his concern is “Farts” is taking up so much space in one of the only legal places for graffiti.

“Everybody should be able to get a little bit of a space in the alley,” said the 30-year-old who has been admiring the artwork in the alley since he was a kid.

“Graffiti, to me, is like one of the pillars of hip-hop,” he said, noting people get charged with vandalism for doing it elsewhere, but not in Graffiti Alley.

“Farts” has started a graffiti battle of sorts with other graffiti directly responding to the gassy message dominating the alley.

“WTF happened to Graf Alley!?” one artist spray-painted in a comic-style caption bubble, prompting others to write profanity-laden responses that “Farts” messed it up and it’s “whack.”

Others have taken to writing fart-themed messages in marker on the alley walls, including references to bean farts and how stinky non-vegan farts are compared to vegan farts.

The amount of “Farts” in the alley fluctuates as some get painted over and more continually appear. Someone whitewashed a portion of the alley just prior to Art Fair, but more “Farts” have popped up since, along with the message “Ann Arbor stinks!”

Steven Ouellette, director of facilities and operations for the Michigan Theater next door, said he didn’t want to comment on “Farts” and doesn’t know who whitewashed the alley. But in general, he said, even though the theater doesn’t own the alley, it does its best to keep it clean and enjoyable for the community.

One of the only pieces of Graffiti Alley so far left untouched by “Farts” is part of the Carl Sandburg poem “The People, Yes.”

Painted many years ago on the ceiling above the Liberty Street entrance to the alley, it reads:

This old anvil laughs at many broken hammers.

There are men who can’t be bought.

The fireborn are at home in fire.

The stars make no noise.

You can’t hinder the wind from blowing.

Time is a great teacher.

Who can live without hope?

“I guess as long as he don’t touch the poem, we good,” Moy said. “There’d probably be a mob out here.”

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