street paintings

You don’t have to go to a museum to see a city’s art. The works that best represent a particular locale are often, quite literally, right under your feet. I photographed the artwork pictured here within a single downtown Salt Lake City block, representing styles ranging from crude to accomplished.

Simply because these works aren’t hanging in a museum or framed on a wall makes them less likely to get recognized as art. How come a painting on a sidewalk instead of a canvas automatically gets demoted from “art” to “nuisance graffiti” in the minds of the majority?

Like it or not, your city is a canvas. It is a place where seemingly unrelated movements, elements, shapes and colors come together to form a tangible image – a picture of its inhabitants. Some choose to add to this canvas knowing that their contribution will be as transient and temporary as the inhabitants are themselves.