Street art has been a very debated topic to discuss, and certain questions have always circled around: What is defined as art? What is street art? Is it legal?
There is beauty, culture and story behind street art. Every artist makes art with different intentions in mind, whether that is a political statement or simply expressing their feelings to society.
Professor Paul Valadez from the Department of Art in UTRGV explains public art from his perspective.
“Public art is not just paint upon a wall, it is not just murals. Public art is also sculptures, we could see lots of sculptures, to celebrate the community, create unity, to beautify..”
Valdez continued by saying there are two types of street art that can be found: the legal kind and illegal kind. Street art is only permitted with permission from the estate owner to paint on their property. Artists who make art on properties without permission are called vandals.
“It is not a gray area. It is art if it has permission, it is vandalism if it doesn’t have permission”
Legal street art includes paintings such as murals and sculptures sponsored by the city. This usually entails that a person was paid to do the job, and they are painting someone else’s opinion.
Valdez explains.
“But ultimately, someone is deciding to express themselves or is being commissioned to express some other idea.”
According to Valadez vandalism can be a form of expression when an individual believes they need to send out a message or they simply feel the need to express themselves.
“A lot of vandalism is just that, someone deciding that they do not have a voice, or their voice is not being heard, or somehow they are being disrespected.”
Artists who practice street art have many mediums to reach their audiences , such as sculpting, painting, drawing, and spray painting, but who they are trying to reach will always be open for discussions and entirely up to the artist to decide.
Visual Communications Professor Eliazbeth McCormack gives her insight.
“ So who are they trying to talk to? Maybe the dialogue is not meant for everyone.”
It all comes down to what the community has to say about street art, do they reject it? Do they encourage it? There are many reasons why a person would choose the outlet of street art. There is not only one motive that inspires these artists, Valadez says.
“There is no just one reason why someone or a community decides to surround themselves with art, but mostly is to inspire, to decorate”
This is Silvana Villarreal with Vaquero Radio
