Building Pathways for Street-Art
to Foster Inclusive Resilience and Enterprise through Creativity
“Few people go to art exhibitions nowadays, the art comes to them!”
-Chris Geiger-
What is street art?
Street Art is – quite simply – an original form of art that originates in its presentation by using the architecture of the streets for its display. This is given added meaning and context when we recognise that this artform is also embedded in the culture of young adults, especially those who may find an emotional attachment to the outdoor urban environment. This can sometimes take the form of comfort and a sense of belonging that in turn stimulates reactive or creative expression through the ‘street life’.
In this way, Street Art can be a spontaneous outlet of fury and frustration to seek reaction and attention, especially when the street may be a person’s sole refuge. Equally, it can be a deeply considered, uplifting and highly skilled representation of the hopeful and idealistic spirit that is renewed – at least in part – within succeeding generations of young adults. Or indeed everything between these two…
Over time, Street Art has become a recognised style – where we know it if we see it – even if it is in the form of a poster reproduced in a book, magazine or journal. It is now shown in multiple forms of media, and this allows young adults to not only have it as a form of their own free expression but also to engage with it as the potential foundation for their livelihood. They can now sell their work on printed paper or digital files in the outskirts of the general art market and gain commissions to produce artwork on public and private buildings in urban environments.
In this way, Street Art is also a sector of business.
St’ART UP wants to ensure that as many young adults as possible, especially those who naturally agravitate to ‘street life’ and are stimulated by it as a creative experience, can exploit that to earn income and a standard of life for themselves through their desire to express and their will to channel that desire as a generator of income.