The Wall, The Canvas.

        One could describe New York as the city of museums, a place where every style and period of art is celebrated. From the outer boroughs to the heart of Manhattan, art surrounds us. However if you look around you'll be able to see that art isn't just relegated to the walls of our many museums, but it lives on the walls of our streets.
On my commute to work I often take the long way, not only for the exercise but because it keeps me connected with the ever changing downtown neighbor my job is located in. I've noticed that there is no such thing as an empty wall in New York. If there isn't art, someone will take it upon themselves to change that. Some art is commissioned and some pops up over night, in the cover of darkness an artist will emerge and lay claim to a swatch of wall that would otherwise only serve the utilitarian purpose of keeping the roof up.
The street art of our city takes many different forms and messages. Some art is an ode to very city it lives in, such as the depiction of a man in 1920's style clothing tagging a wall with the message “I ❤️ NY.” Some are inspirational like the outline of a young child looking up at a punching bag. You'll also see political messages about the acceptance of different forms love or angry at the man currently taking residence in the White House. The messages on the walls are as diverse as the artists that create them and in turn as diverse as the city we call home
          In the 1980's, what we know as street art or sometimes "graffiti" or "urban art" began to take hold of our city. A response to the bleakness of our environment, these mural dot our cold and grey setting with an array of colors. With many visiting New York just to participate in walking tours of the art, graffiti is almost as iconic as our skyline. (Caramanga)
What an honor and privilege to be encompassed by such beauty and creativity. To live a city where a walk isn't just putting on foot in front of the other, but an opportunity to see the world through another's eyes. To see the messages that our fellow citizens deem worth enough to tell us through their time, supplies and effort. The greatest museum in New York City might just be the unintentional one that covers our streets in art

Caramanga, Danielle. The Street Art of New York City. museumofthecity.org. ND. Web. 10/4/2017