Volunteers will be out in force later this month tackling the problem of unwanted graffiti on the walls of private buildings in the city.
Organized by Guelph resident Paul Deacon, the Around Town Wash Down will see teams of people heading out to various locations to paint over graffiti on private buildings.
"We're just trying to give a little something back to the community for nothing," Deacon said.
"The theory being, once you kind of lick the problem with a lick of paint, it shouldn't keep coming back. That's the theory, anyway."
Deacon attends St. George's Church and originally brought up the idea of a graffiti paint over there. He expanded it, hitting Facebook, to attract more volunteers.
So far around 15 people have signed up to help. More info is available on the Around Town Wash Down Facebook page.
They would also like to hear from business owners that have some graffiti they want covered up for free.
Deacon agrees that some graffiti "is great," but that it "might be on the wrong canvas," namely the wall of a building that the owner doesn't want it there.
"If they got permission, that's cool. But I call it art in the wrong place."
A similar event called the Downtown Wash Down was held around 10 years ago for a couple of years, organized by the former manager of the Albion Hotel.
Deacon appeared before city council last year to complain about the graffiti issue in Guelph.
The city responds to offensive graffiti as soon as they are aware of it, but it can be months before they can get someone out to other graffiti that needs cleaning off or covering up.
The Around Town Wash Down is aimed at private business, where Deacon says owners often don't have the time, resources or money to address the problem.
"A lot of small businesses just don't have the money to tackle the problem," he said.
Dulux Paints on Speedvale Avenue has partnered with the project.
Manager Leigh-Ann Rowe checked with head office and the company, who runs a campaign called Colourful Communities, is supplying all the paint and equipment for the event.
Dulux is also supplying some volunteers and ladders and is even help colour match some of the walls to be painted to help the new paint blend in with the rest of the wall.
