INTI’s piece being admired by a bicycle tour for Atlanta Living Walls 2013 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Here is a cross-post from our Atlanta Living Walls article on the Huffington Post last week that we wanted to share because we liked it and because a number of people have written to us to share their opinions and perspectives on some of the observations we made.

The slow proliferation of Street Art festivals around the world has been notable in many ways, including in what people are not saying. So it was good to bring out the topic of whether this really is “Street Art” when created in these new contexts. Thanks to everyone who wrote, and we welcome the conversation.

Axel Void for Atlanta Living Walls 2013 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“Street art (or urban art) at its roots blossomed in the last couple of decades at least in part due to the illegal graffiti movement, avant-garde artists, intellectuals, political theorists, and critics of the so-called mainstream and much of the art making ethos that evolved from these calls for the autonomous selection of location, method and content. The idea of seeking approval is anathema to many a street artist, and meddling from the outside is nearly reproachable. Because no permission is usually sought, it is also accepted that the work itself is never guaranteed to have a long-running life and its meaning may be misunderstood, misinterpreted or altogether missed.

Christopher Derek Bruno for Atlanta Living Walls 2013 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“For most the Street Art practice is an outcropping of personal inspiration or appeal, an experiment in the street laboratory. It may be dissed by another artist or “buffed” (painted over) by someone the following day, but all of the other choices are on the artists’ terms alone. In our tours over the last week through Atlanta we saw plenty of this self-directed sort of stuff on abandoned gas stations and buildings or on semi-approved graffiti walls that are unofficially set aside for that form of expression; it just wasn’t part of the formal festival. To expect that an organized annual event in any community could hew to that method of art making is probably delusional. But these new murals are also probably not street art, for those concerned with labels.”

For the complete story on Huffington Post Arts & Culture, please click here. 20 New Murals From Atlanta Living Walls 2013

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