This image found on a wall around the University of Vienna and the Austrian Parliament, in 2008, is a graffiti stencil of Pippi Longstocking, the eponymous fictional character created by the Swedish children's book author, Astrid Lindgren, in 1945. Since then, Pippi Långstrump (in Swedish) has been translated into 90 languages and made into movies and TV series. The image here is based on the portrayal of Pippi by Inger Nilsson, the 9-year-old actress who starred in a 1968 Swedish TV series. Dubbed versions were shown on German TV in 1971 and in the U.S. by 1973 where they became enormously popular.

Though she is known by other names around the world ("Harisnyás Pippi" in Hungarian), Pippi is an iconic figure whose gravity defying red braids, oversized shoes, mismatched socks, home-made clothing, and freckled face represent her playful and plucky world view.

Pippi is an independent, unconventional, anti-authoritarian 9-year-old rebel who lives alone in a villa she shares with her monkey and horse. Although she is a perpetual outsider, Pippi is an advocate for the rights of children, generous with her wealth (though unmaterialistic), and a critic of unquestioned adult authority. She is enormously strong (lifting a horse and flinging policemen) and has a great sense of humor. The self-educated Pippi challenges the status quo by contesting language, logic, and principles as expressed here with her creative answer to the math problem: "2 x 3 = 4."

Illegally stenciled onto a wall in a public space, this graffitied image of Pippi expresses the subversive principles and practices of young adults who have made this "anti-Shirley Temple" into a poster child of the counter culture. As the quintessential gender bender, Pippi is especially beloved by girls and women. But not all: some see her as a poor role model for children.

Pippi's world-wide reach provides unique opportunities for in-depth and cross cultural analyses of Pippi's meanings to children and youth. The enormous variety of sources available (e.g., books, movies, dolls as well as children's drawings and handmade costumes, etc.) make it possible to utilize textual, visual, and material culture methods of research.

This photo shows a wall covered in "tags" and "throws" along a commonly-traveled side street that runs through the SoHo area of Manhattan, which is one of New York City's major museum and art gallery districts. Tags were the first form of graffiti art, originated in the late 1960s, and are linear signatures quickly written with spray paint and markers, usually taking 15 seconds or less to complete. The larger works are 'throws" (or "throw-ups"), large initials or names quickly spray-painted in a light color with a dark outline in a "bubble" letter style, usually taking a minute or less to complete. Tags and throws are usually the first forms that a new graffiti artist attempts to master, but they are also intended to maintain an artist's competitive visibility.

As with rooftops and schoolyards, street-level buildings became a common place for graffiti artists to paint after the painting on the subways was contained in the mid-1980s. Like the sides of the subway trains, the walls became a visual record of an ongoing competition and conversation among graffiti writers. The streets are the most risky place for writers to work, hence the necessity of quickness in execution, and it also explains why there are very few of the more elaborate pieces visible in most areas of the city.

A main goal for almost all graffiti artists is to be seen by other artists or appreciative peers, as well as the typical New York City passers-by. In the mid-1980s, after more than 15 years effort, the New York City Transit Authority was successful in preventing painted trains from circulating through the subway system. Since their works could no longer circulate through the city on subways, many graffiti writers turned to the walls to maintain visibility. Along with bridge works, highway retaining walls, schoolyards, and handball courts, rooftops became a favored "spot," particularly those along the elevated subway lines.

This photograph, taken from a subway platform in Queens, shows two elaborate pieces on a rooftop, with other works in the distance. Like most graffiti art, rooftops are usually painted at night in the company of friends who keep watch for police. In a densely-packed city like New York, the rooftops are often connected along the entire block, allowing artists to move easily from one to the other.

From left to right, this photograph shows four graffiti artists at work on a collaborative "production" in a Bronx schoolyard: DEATH, NIC 1, MEX, and NOX. A "production" is a planned, multi-artist work typically unified by a visual theme in the background that is usually painted last, after each artist has finished with their name. The artist who organized this production whitewashed the wall the evening before, and for this production, also produced official-looking (but false) documents with signatures stating that the artist had the school principal's permission to paint. The documents were enough to convince three separate police squads that drove into the yard during the seven-hour painting event.

Although some artists sketch their works on paper before executing them on a wall, most improvise on the spot unless the work is accompanied by "characters" (figures, often borrowed from popular culture sources like movies and comic books). A sketch of a "Karate Kid" character can be seen on the far left work, near the fellow in the red shirt. Also, the sketch and fill-in process of creating larger pieces is evident in the two works-in-progress on the left (DEATH and NIC 1). Note that the production is a social event, with friends and admirers (and their children) watching, and a boom box playing music.