Ann Arbor man convicted of vandalism uses graffiti for 'good not evil'
Jacob Saalberg, in white shirt and shorts, talks with a friend during a break in painting a wall at the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre. Saalberg is painting a mural on the wall as a part of his community service for a vandalism conviction.
Kyle Feldscher | AnnArbor.com
Jacob Saalberg still has more than a year to run on his probation and still owes thousands of dollars in court fees and restitution.
However, he’s been given the opportunity to use his graffiti skills for good while completing his probation requirements.
Saalberg, 18, is working on a mural at the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre, 322 W. Ann St., as a part of his community service. He was out in the summer heat Wednesday and, perhaps ironically, his task for the day was painting over graffiti tags done on the walls.
After that, he and a few friends will paint a mural on the side of the building.
“More than anything, it gives me the opportunity to prove to people that graffiti can be art and I’m a creative person and I can use it legally, in a positive way,” he said. “A lot of people have a really negative perception of me, but I finished high school, I’m working. I’m just working my job, making money, paying my court fines and making murals.”
The comedy and tragedy masks Jacob Saalberg painted as a part of the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre's mural.
Kyle Feldscher | AnnArbor.com
Saalberg was arrested and charged in March 2012 with one count of malicious destruction of property worth between $1,000 and $20,000. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation under the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act in October.
He’s required to pay more than $19,000 in restitution, more than $3,000 in court fines and costs and is on probation for two years. When he completes all of that, the conviction will be erased from his permanent record, per the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act.
As a part of his probation, Saalberg must also complete about 200 hours of community service. When Suzi Peterson, managing director of the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre, heard about this she had an idea.
Peterson is friends with Saalberg’s attorney, Lynn D'Orio. D’Orio told Peterson she thought Saalberg is very talented, but wasn’t using his talents in a productive way. Peterson realized she had a space that he could use.
“We had these walls that are blank and get tagged all the time and we were looking to do something creative,” she said. “He gets community service from it and … he’s using his art for good and not evil.”
Peterson cleared the idea with her landlord and gave Saalberg a little bit of direction: The theater needed a logo first and foremost, but other than that he could do what he wanted with the wall.
The painting Saalberg came up with, using the comedy and tragedy masks from ancient Greek culture and the theater’s abbreviation, stunned Peterson.
“It’s gorgeous, right over the door,” she said. “Everyone is thrilled by that, they all love that.”
Saalberg said he did a little bit of tagging and some more complicated work when he was illegally vandalizing buildings. Now, he appreciates having the time and space to be more creative while making up for what he did.
“It’s really nice to be able to repay some of my debts through doing something I enjoy doing, while also contributing a mural to a local entity,” he said. “It’s nice to get positive feedback on something like this.”
With some friends, he’s also been working on some other murals in the area — all with the permission of building owners, something he emphasizes to Peterson. Saalberg said he’s been tossing out ideas for what to do with the rest of the space at the theater — perhaps an undersea-themed mural.
Saalberg owns up to the fact that he cost business owners in Ann Arbor thousands of dollars. He said he took offense to members of the public blaming his parents for what he did.
“You make your own choices, you’re on your own and it’s not like your parents can control you from afar, you know?” he said.
He chalks up the vandalism to a boy not knowing how to express himself in a positive way.
“When you’re that young, your brain doesn’t stop developing until you’re 25 or so, so you have to understand that you’re figuring things out,” he said. “Even now, I’m 18 and I’m still figuring stuff out.”
“People are trying to figure out how they can express themselves and use their creative energies in a positive way at this age.”
Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
Usual Suspect
Mon, Jul 8, 2013 : 1:38 p.m.
"it gives me the opportunity to prove to people that graffiti can be art" Thanks, but everybody already knew that. The issue was doing it on other people's property without permission. "He chalks up the vandalism to a boy not knowing how to express himself in a positive way." Oh, please. This is lib-speak gibberish. Though I'm not surprised to hear it because he's surrounded by it.
John Minock
Mon, Jul 8, 2013 : 1 p.m.
In this case, as with those of other taggers, the restitution ordered does not cover all the damage caused, because only a fraction of the incidents are included. There are hundreds of tags all over town from just a handful of vandals, and not all the vandals have been prosecuted. From pictures and comments on the internet, it is obvious the vandals know who the others are. Why not make cooperation with police in identifyiing other guilty parties a condition of probation?
Dog Guy
Mon, Jul 8, 2013 : 12:55 p.m.
True punishment will be seeing his Ann Arbor Civic Theatre mural tagged.
John of Saline
Mon, Jul 8, 2013 : 12:47 p.m.
If it's your wall or you have permission to paint, knock yourself out. If it's not yours, don't. Not a hard concept.
Nicholas Urfe
Mon, Jul 8, 2013 : 12:42 p.m.
"as a part of his community service" That is a reward, not community service or punishment.
Usual Suspect
Mon, Jul 8, 2013 : 1:38 p.m.
Nicholas, once in a while you get something right. This is one of those times.
AnnieWood
Mon, Jul 8, 2013 : 12:41 p.m.
When Jacob is done with that project can he come by and get the Cisco Mekan tag off my neighbor's brick wall fence? After several removal attempts it's still visible. And he can stop there, he does not have to repaint the brick wall artistically.
Billy
Mon, Jul 8, 2013 : 12:46 p.m.
Those are two different taggers...neither of which was him.
Carole
Mon, Jul 8, 2013 : 12:40 p.m.
Life is about lessons learned. I hope he learned his lesson and wish him success on the mural. Put your art to good use.
Linda Peck
Mon, Jul 8, 2013 : 12:01 p.m.
Thanks for the article, Kyle. I enjoyed reading about Jacob Saalberg and what he is doing to fulfill his sentence. It makes such a difference to know that some people do want to see your painting, and make a good place for it to happen. I hope this trend will continue so that tagging and other similar vandalism will disappear from our town.
Jim Osborn
Mon, Jul 8, 2013 : 12:27 p.m.
Tagging will continue if taggers are partially rewarded instead of punished.
Brad
Mon, Jul 8, 2013 : 11:49 a.m.
Someone call the ACLU! It's cruel and unusual punishment. Taking a kid guilty only of painting on buildings and making him perform the community service of - make sure you're sitting down - painting on a building! What next? Make him judge the AADL graffiti contest?
Brad
Mon, Jul 8, 2013 : 1:43 p.m.
sar·casm /?sär?kaz?m/ Noun The use of irony to mock or convey contempt.
Tex Treeder
Mon, Jul 8, 2013 : 11:46 a.m.
This may counter the "tar and feather him" feeling of the other commenters, but I think this is a fair sentence. Saalberg has to come up with many thousands of dollars to compensate the property owners whose property he vandalized, yet the court has come up with a sentence that may help rehabilitate him. I'd rather see restitution and rehabilitation than yet another wasted life.
TryingToBeObjective
Mon, Jul 8, 2013 : 12:29 p.m.
Agreed. Isn't the goal rehabilitation? Yes, he did a lot of damage, but he has to START somewhere. If someone whose building he damaged has an idea for him to clean up their building, step up.
Billy
Mon, Jul 8, 2013 : 11:43 a.m.
"and, perhaps ironically, his task for the day was painting over graffiti tags done on the walls." Heh.....and there went ALL of your "streetcred." Those look like some rather detailed graff pieces that he was painting over too....not this garbage "tag" vandalism. Would have liked to seen it before he destroyed it.
Craig Lounsbury
Mon, Jul 8, 2013 : 11:40 a.m.
"More than anything, it gives me the opportunity to prove to people that graffiti can be art and I'm a creative person and I can use it legally, in a positive way," he said. Prove it to yourself, the rest of us already knew. " "A lot of people have a really negative perception of me,....." Maybe because you failed in the "legally, positive way" department until you got caught and the courts forced it on you.
Jim Osborn
Mon, Jul 8, 2013 : 11:29 a.m.
"t's really nice to be able to repay some of my debts through doing something I enjoy doing, while also contributing a mural to a local entity," Let him do this on his own time. How about if he spends all of his community service debt, which is very small when compared to the damage that he has caused, working alongside the many, many property owners who are forced by the city to clean up after him. Some of these owners can be elderly, it does not matter, they must remove his vandalism. Let him spend hours scrubbing walls, operating a sand blaster, or painting over walls. Let the building owner sit in the shade, drinking lemon aid under an umbrella, Tom Sawyer style, while this young man, "figures it out". By allowing him to do what he enjoys, he never will. Why should he create yet more graffiti while building owners still are forced to remove unwanted graffiti? Let him do this on his own time.
JPLewis
Mon, Jul 8, 2013 : 1:19 p.m.
@ordmad: "Saalberg said he did a little bit of tagging and some more complicated work when he was illegally vandalizing buildings." "Saalberg owns up to the fact that he cost business owners in Ann Arbor thousands of dollars. " ...sounds like more than one, by his own statements.
Jim Osborn
Mon, Jul 8, 2013 : 12:24 p.m.
One building that he was CAUGHT vandalizing. I wonder how many others he ruined and was not caught? He must have caused more that $19,000 in damages, hence the restitution figure. Will you volunteer your home?
ordmad
Mon, Jul 8, 2013 : 11:59 a.m.
One building. Read the story linked above. This is not the SAES guy.
vg550
Mon, Jul 8, 2013 : 11:09 a.m.
Evan said even now at 18 he is "still figuring stuff out." We all have to figure "stuff" out in our life, but you can't do it at the expense of others. Its not fair to business owners, or taxpayers, to have to pay for cleanup of this type of vandalism. I think it's wonderful he is paying his restitution, court fines and costs and keeping up with his community service. I wish him well. This could be the turning point in his life ... he's right, the "choice" is his to make.
actionjackson
Mon, Jul 8, 2013 : 10:44 a.m.
Jacob, Sad to tell you this, you never get it all figured out. Common sense and rights of others will make a difference though. Respect for property of others is a good place to start.