Stefano Bloch

Stefano Bloch
Born
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Minnesota (Ph.D.)
UCLA (M.A.)
UC Santa Cruz (B.A.)
Los Angeles Valley College (A.A.)
Occupation(s)Author, Educator, and Tenured Professor of Geography, Latin American Studies, and Social, Cultural and Critical Theory
SchoolLos Angeles School
InstitutionsUniversity of Arizona
Brown University
Main interests
Cultural geography, cultural criminology, gangs, graffiti, social theory, gentrification, autoethnography
Notable ideas
Los Angeles graffiti styles, "Going All City," urban autoethnography
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Stefano Bloch is an American author and professor of cultural geography and critical criminology at the University of Arizona who focuses on graffiti, prisons, the policing of public space, and gang activity.[1][2]

Bloch is the author of Going All City: Struggle and Survival in LA's Graffiti Subculture[3][4] published by University of Chicago Press, and appears in the documentaries Bomb It, Vigilante Vigilante: The Battle for Expression, and "Can't Be Stopped" as "Cisco."[5][6][7][8] Times Higher Education identifies Bloch as "one of LA's most prolific (and, in some circles, legendary) graffiti writers."[9]

Stefano Bloch is Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies for the University of Arizona School of Geography, Development and Environment in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, and faculty member in the Center for Latin American Studies and the Graduate Interdisciplinary Program in Social, Cultural, and Critical Theory.[10][11][12]

Bloch is a graffiti historian[13] and provides expert testimony on legal cases focusing on gang activity and identity.

Bloch's research and commentary on urban space and protest has been quoted in Smithsonian[14] and his research and perspectives on graffiti have been quoted in the Los Angeles Times,[15][16] New York Times,[17] Washington Post, [18] NBC news,[19] and in other media including Smithsonian Magazine[20] and in interviews with NPR Morning Edition,[21] LAist[22] and the Los Angeles Lakers on NBA.com in which Bloch discusses graffiti in LA and the Lakers' impact on the street art scene, crediting the Lakers organization and its players with bringing some sense of unity to an otherwise racially and economically divided city.

In 2024, Bloch's commentaries on violent crime trends and "the most dangerous drug on campus" were published in the Arizona Daily Star.[23][24]

The September 2024 issue of Psychology Today credits Professor Bloch's research with "shedding light on a historically maligned subculture and helps outsiders understand the deeply human motivations that compel graffiti artists, most of them young and marginalized, to pick up their paint and head out into the night."[25]

  1. ^ "Stefano Bloch". University of Chicago Press. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  2. ^ "Stefano Bloch". June 11, 2019.
  3. ^ Going All City. University of Chicago Press.
  4. ^ "No One is Nothing: On "Going All City: Struggle and Survival in LA's Graffiti Subculture"". February 14, 2020.
  5. ^ "Can't be Stopped". IMDb.
  6. ^ Bloch, Stefano (November 2019). Going All City: Struggle and Survival in LA's Graffiti Subculture. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-49358-9.
  7. ^ Harvey, Dennis. "Variety Reviews "Vigilante, Vigilante: The Battle for Expression"".
  8. ^ "'Going All City': How a UA Professor is Changing the Conversation About Graffiti in LA". February 11, 2020.
  9. ^ "Stefano Bloch: life and death in LA's graffiti subculture". Times Higher Education (THE). February 20, 2020. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  10. ^ "Stefano Bloch". August 30, 2019.
  11. ^ "Stefano Bloch". June 11, 2019.
  12. ^ "SCCT Faculty | Program in Social, Cultural, and Critical Theory".
  13. ^ "A graffiti artist-turned professor on the history and evolution of the artform". KJZZ. September 13, 2023. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  14. ^ "How Urban Design Can Make or Break a Protest".
  15. ^ "Taggers seen in action at graffiti-covered L.A. skyscraper. Across street in 2 days: The Grammys". Los Angeles Times. February 1, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  16. ^ "Two arrested in connection with tagging graffiti-covered L.A. skyscraper across the street from Grammys venue". Los Angeles Times. February 2, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  17. ^ Carballo, Rebecca (February 4, 2024). "Multiple Floors of Los Angeles Skyscrapers Are Covered in Graffiti". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  18. ^ https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/art/2024/02/08/los-angeles-graffiti-building/ [bare URL]
  19. ^ "City to vote on having owners clear graffiti from downtown LA high-rise". NBC Los Angeles. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  20. ^ "Graffiti Artists Tag 27 Floors of Abandoned Skyscraper in Los Angeles". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  21. ^ https://www.npr.org/2024/03/12/1237888140/a-new-public-art-project-in-los-angeles-is-creating-a-lot-of-controversy [bare URL]
  22. ^ "Uncovering The History And Impact Of Graffiti Writing In Los Angeles". LAist. February 22, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  23. ^ https://tucson.com/opinion/column/local-opinion-some-good-news-about-violent-crime/article_1983f344-0d50-11ef-bf1d-0788a292ce44.html [bare URL]
  24. ^ https://tucson.com/opinion/column/local-opinion-the-most-dangerous-drug-on-campus/article_abfed946-58f0-11ef-8ca5-c7ccaa008442.html [bare URL]
  25. ^ https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/202409/the-night-writer