Busted for graffiti, I took my expression in new directions — but the court still has me in its sights

Max Gonzales, of Garfield, poses for a portrait in front of his new mural on December 10, 2024. (Photo by Vondre Clark/PublicSource) As GEMS, I sprayed my moniker on surfaces all over Pittsburgh. Now I’m a muralist, but also a believer in the art form that landed me in five-figure debt. “PublicSource is an independent nonprofit newsroom serving the Pittsburgh region.& Sign up for our free newsletters.” First-person essay by Max Gonzales, PublicSource Long before I was a full-time artist with one of the most prolific mural businesses in the city, my spray paint addiction led me to the top of a “Most Wanted” list. It was January 2016, and I was walking the halls of Carnegie Mellon University’s fine arts building when I heard that the police were in my fourth-floor studio with a warrant for my arrest. Professors and fellow students had encouraged me to avoid the police and to leave the building, but at that point, I knew that my time had run out. A couple of weeks prior, Pittsburgh Graffiti Task Force detectives had raided a previous apartment of mine to find only my old roommate and none of the evidence they wanted. I immediately started...