The Rise of Urban Street Art as a Positive Transformational Method

Street art has long been a part of the urban subculture. It’s acceptance as art, however, is relatively new. In the past, street art was often confused with graffiti — writing or drawing illicitly on a wall or public surface. Graffiti is frequently executed impulsively and without intention or purpose. Street art, by contrast, almost always has a purpose: to renew, refresh, and revive urban scenery.

Recently, street art has been forcing cities to stand up and take note of its presence. It’s beautiful, colorful, interesting, and meaningful. Rather than blending into, or detracting from, the monotonous brick and stone architecture often found in urban environments, it adds to it. In fact, it almost begs for your attention.

Many city-dwellers and artists are quickly recognizing the value of urban street art as a positive transformational method for the drab and dull parts of their beloved cityscapes. Previously ugly or unusable spaces are suddenly blank canvases. Derelict buildings, forgotten underpasses, and bland storefronts are being refurbished with bright paint and ideas as opposed to slathered with more brick and mortar patches. What’s more? People want to see the finished products.

Urban street art is different from the art found in museums and galleries. It’s not on loan from someone else’s private collection...it’s an actual tangible piece of your own community. It’s proof that art is versatile, and beauty can be found in dark corners. It’s building-sized stories narrated by members of your own neighborhood. This vibrant type of art attracts people. People attract businesses, and businesses attract revenue. Economically, street art makes sense.

Take Boston, home of Underground at Ink Block, for example. They were able to take 8 acres of underpass property and successfully convert it to a gorgeous urban park with a strong cultural draw and usable parking spaces. There are pathways, street vendors, and even shopping where there once was just some scary space. It’s like an urban playground!

Salem, another Massachusetts town, hosts their own Open Air Museum in conjunction with the Punto Urban Art Museum. The goal, according to the museum homepage, is to “create neighborhood pride and increase economic opportunity for local businesses.” The exhibit boasts more than 50 examples of street art in a walkable, 3 block radius.

Urban street art is climbing in popularity outside of Massachusetts as well. Austin, Texas claims their outdoor urban art scene is just as diverse as their music scene, which is an impressive accomplishment. Denver has been hosting their own street art celebration, called CRUSH, since 2010. Even London and Hong Kong, formerly infamous for detaining aspiring street artists, are collaborating with their local urban artists in hopes of a positive outcome.
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I’ve been lucky enough to photograph several examples of interesting and engaging street art in my travels, and I encourage you to do the same. If you’re not quite ready to book a flight, you can experience urban street art online by visiting my photo galleries on 500px and Behance!