As a citizen or a tourist of PGH, you’ve probably seen some of our local street art. From the tags, to the small prints, to the huge murals, it’s certainly a growing trend in not just this city, but cities all over the world. The art world is moving to the streets, no longer seen as a graffiti, but street beauty. When trying to place a date when this form all began is pretty impossible. Street art was first seen as a way to vandalize, to create a message, to spread your own name, to personally “own” something. A tag, a picture, a print. It was a way to claim your space, to destroy someone else’s, or help add to another. In a way, street art was used for evolution, revolutions, and public messages. That is, when things grew bigger than just street names.
“Leroy” and “Thor” are one of the most common street name tags found in the Pittsburgh area. But that isn’t to say that there aren’t more. Yet, like I
said, street art has evolutionalized over the years. From these common names to full works of art on the sides of buildings and old billboards. Street art has in a way, become the cities free art gallery.
With maps to locate these giant murals, the spray painted buildings have become a new attraction. I know there are still lots of people that may not approve of these forms of art, but that doesn’t mean they are going to stop. At this point, they are apart of our culture. We have adapted and even transformed our ways of graffiti and street art. It isn’t just paint, it’s stencils, papered posters, stickers, and even weaved yarn. At this point, the possibilities of local street art is endless, and new things are rising to the surface everyday, all you have to do is take the time and look around. Enjoy the murals, enjoy the scenes, take in what someone has taken the time to put out for all to see.
