UNCOVERED IMAGES: A Photographic Recap Of Graffiti Cleanup At Arabia

A retired engineer with the US Forest Service, Thomas Smith had no experience removing graffiti from granite. That is, until he came to Arabia…

It’s hard to tell by looking at it today, but not that long ago, much of the outcrop at Arabia Mountain was covered in graffiti. So much so that one of its nicknames used to be “Graffiti Mountain.” Yikes. Surprising as it may be, practically all of it was cleaned up by one person: Thomas Smith, a retired engineer with 30 years of experience in the US Forest Service.

“While it’s been many years since Tom has been here, his fingerprints and contributions can still been seen and felt at the Preserve,” said Robby Astrove, Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve Manager (DAMNP). Since his days at Arabia, Tom has retired and now resides in North Carolina with his longtime wife and partner in conservation Killian. “Whether it’s the graffiti cover-up paint that is still holding strong, or a set of stairs, or a kiosk built with his hands, or paint along a remote property line—it signals Tom was here. And his legacy continues to be heard loud and clear.”

Killian Smith on the Arabian outcrop during her husband Tom’s graffiti cleanup. (Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve, DAMNP)

In 1972, the Davidson Granite Company, which owned Arabia Mountain and many surrounding quarries, donated 500 acres to DeKalb County. But the land was not officially designated a preserve until 1992 when the nonprofit Friends of Arabia Mountain, led by Dave Marcus, lobbied DeKalb County to protect the land. Their efforts succeeded in securing the funds and approval for the Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve, which had existed hitherto without a nature center or even a regular ranger. However, during that intervening 20 years, Arabia Mountain had become an unofficial party central, accruing many broken bottles and litter (remnants of which can still be seen today in some areas) and a generation’s worth of graffiti. In 2002, DAMNP’s first ranger Mary Terry and the Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance leaned on one of their most impactful and experienced volunteers, Tom Smith.

“I stopped there one day, looked around and said, ‘Good grief,'” recalled Smith in an exclusive interview with the Arabia Alliance. “I’d never seen so much graffiti in my life. It was not the kind of place I’d want to bring my family.”

Smith began volunteering at the Preserve in 2000, constructing soft trails and stairs, marking the boundaries of the park, and starting the Preserve’s Geocaching program, which still thrives today. But of all those accomplishments, Smith was most proud of his removal of a preponderance of graffiti that used to cover much of the rock. “Lady hikers felt uneasy walking out here because of the vulgarity,” Smith said in a 2016 video honoring his accomplishments for a CrossRoadsNews 2016 Community Kudos Award. “And I wouldn’t want to repeat some of the messages that were out of here.” See the full video below:

According to Smith, there were more than 300 separate pieces of graffiti scattered across the granite, including the entire lyrics from “Stairway to Heaven” someone had spray-painted in Star Wars intro style on the rock facing Klondike Road. Instead of pressure-washing or scrubbing away the paint with products like Elephant Snot (which would still leave a paint shadow or stain), Smith discovered his own method of mixing multiple paint colors and some dirt and grit straight from the outcrop.

“He had a very specific camouflage that consisted of three colors,” recalled Astrove about Smith’s technique. “We actually had to go to Home Depot and have them make the colors as a custom color to match the rocks and lichen. Then using brush and sponge he would dab and paint. In some instances, he would draw in water drips and stains to match what was happening on the rock if the area was prone to drainage. He wanted it to look like nobody was ever there, including the cleanup. He’s the OG Leave No Trace.”

With three different paint colors (black, gray, and what looks like a shade of gold) and some local granitic dust, Smith found the prefect mixture to cover over graffiti (DAMNP).

From the spring into summer, it took Smith around three months working six days a week to cover over all that graffiti. For about the first ten years after Smith’s restoration efforts, there was maybe one graffiti incident a year that required covering over; and since then graffiti on the mountain and surrounding environs has stopped entirely. Smith wrote this report, among many others, about his revitalization efforts at Arabia. His technique for “camouflaging” any paint-related vandalism on granite is still the go-to method used throughout the Heritage Area. The cleanup was also instrumental in the region being designated a National Heritage Area in 2006.

“If we had not gotten rid of that graffiti, there was no way Arabia Mountain would’ve been approved by congress as a heritage area,” Tom told the Arabia Alliance. “Several people told me that—it looked too bad. But I think it’s one of the most interesting places to see in Georgia now.”

See Smith’s incredible work in these recently uncovered before-and-after photos: