Street Art Across America

Like finding a lucky penny on the sidewalk or getting a free coffee by accident, stumbling upon a stunning piece of street art is one of (modern) life’s pleasant little surprises. More than that, these vast displays represent culture, emotion, and prominent artistic movements across the country. The best part is that joining the process can be as simple as going for a walk. Who needs a museum, anyway? Some of the best modern art in the nation is sitting on the street.

San Diego has its fair share of street murals. The cultural art in Chicano Park transformed the bottom of a highway overpass into a colorful history of revolution, Aztec myth, and community contribution to the park. North Park has a few eye-catchers too, like the postcard inspired "Greetings From San Diego" mural featuring the iconic landmarks of the Coronado Bridge and Balboa Park’s California Tower. To create your own modern art, you can buy graffiti supplies here.

However, to see some of the best street art in the country, we’d have to travel. You know, I think I feel a road trip coming on…

New York City is, of course, one of the best places to find street murals, simply because there are so many. Collecting all the eyes in the world, the style of art here varies from cultural to political, from comic to psychedelic, and everything in between. This explosion of color looks familiar––the historic kiss that many in San Diego see in giant statue form by the bay stands out on a New York wall in a blaze of bold hues molded by geometric shapes.

New York Mural

Philadelphia is another East Coast hot spot. Of course there are tons of works here too, but that’s not just an attest to the city’s creativity. Additionally, Philadelphia has an entire Mural Arts program that’s been going strong for 30 years. They call this place the City of Murals, and the Mural Arts program is a large reason for that, since it engages in the creation of between 50 and 100 public works each year. Philly might be the mural Mecca of America!

Philadelphia Mural

Los Angeles is home for the country’s trendiest murals––aka, we see them all over Instagram! There’s that pink wall that is somehow the perfect background for everything, the "love" wall and the polka dot wall. These murals make for great photos, but don’t always showcase the culture of a community. Some of the more impressive pieces are Downtown LA’s colorful "Art Share" piece and the typographic specialty, "California Dreaming" in Culver City.

LA California Dreaming

And for your next vacation, make a special trip to Hawaii to envelop yourself in one of the nation’s most vibrant art scenes. Each year, Honolulu hosts a week-long event to celebrate music, art and culture with POW WOW––a global network of artists that organizes the gallery shows, lecture series, mural projects, and much more. The event has become so popular that it’s stretched back to mainland and beyond. Other countries are embracing the POW WOW event and exploring mural culture, too. This skeletal surfer signal satisfies a kind of gothic/macabre vibe, but also portrays a traditional cultural greeting in Hawaii.

Honolulu Mural

Street murals are everywhere! Capturing the essence of a community, exploring the depths of a culture, remembering historical events and people, and embracing the possibility of the future, street murals make for the ultimate art museum––and hey, no entrance fee. The accessibility of these public works of art makes them all the more significant to not only the world of art, but the communities they transform as well.

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