STREETART ~ So much to love!

One of my favorite things about living in the Bay Area is the street art. There is so much of it everywhere. The Bay Area is so rich in public art. Every city. Every neighborhood. Whenever I have guests from out of town I take them on a street art tour. Usually Oakland and San Francisco and I joke about my mural art envy. I would love to learn someday how to do that. I am so intrigued by it and I have so many questions. How did the artist scale it up? What kind of paint? Is it all spray paint or wall paint? Stencil? How did they get the job? How long does it take? Maybe someday I still will…

It is a privilege to live in an area that values street art and it is continuing to expand all the time. Back in the 90’s when I graduated from art school street art was not something to aspire to. It was dangerous and considered vandalism. I guess it was the only option for graffiti artists since it was not even recognized as art. Tagging was seen as vandalism. Artist would risk arrest to make street art. Now a days artists are paid to create art pieces of all shapes and sizes. It’s so cool that artists that used to get arrested are now getting paid to do the same thing. Anyhow, the point is that public art enhances a city. It beautifies and sometimes address social issues too. Some street art is political, sometimes not. No matter what it’s an improvement to an otherwise flat wall. San Francisco may have pioneered street art as a city in the U.S. There is so much there because it has been supported for a long time.
I am always happy to talk about artists that I admire. So, I would like to share with you some of my favorite artists with BAY AREA Murals. Check out their links below. They all have very different styles and I adore them for different reasons. See for yourself!

Nina Wright      https://www.graffiticampforgirls.com/about-us.html She is also awesome because she started a graffiti camp for girls. I wish that existed when I was a kid!

Jet Martinez   http://www.jetromartinez.com/

Bunnie Reiss   http://www.bunniereiss.com/

G.A.T.S.   https://gatsgraffiti.weebly.com/

NYCHOS   https://nychos.com/

Zio Ziegler   http://www.zioziegler.com

Jet Martinez in downtown Oakland Photo credit @ABG Art Group ~ PT 2 Gallery