Street Art: History, Styles, and Community Impact

When talking about Street Art, a visual practice that moves out of galleries and onto public walls, sidewalks, and buildings. Also known as urban art, it mixes paint, pigment, stencil, and sometimes digital media to turn everyday spaces into open‑air exhibitions. Street Art encompasses murals, installations, and temporary pieces, creating a dialogue between artist and passerby. It requires community support to stay legal and vibrant, and it influences city culture by adding color, commentary, and identity to otherwise bland surfaces.

Key Forms and Their Role in the Street Art Scene

One of the oldest branches is Graffiti, spontaneous lettering or tags that often start as personal signatures. Graffiti influences street art by bringing raw, unfiltered expression that later evolves into more complex works. Murals, large‑scale paintings that cover whole walls or building facades serve as canvases for storytelling, political commentary, and community pride. Stencil Art, quick‑repeat designs cut from paper or cardboard offers artists a fast way to spread a visual message across multiple locations, making the style ideal for protest or branding. Urban Art, the broader umbrella that includes graffiti, murals, installations, and digital projections connects local culture with visual expression, turning streets into living galleries. Together these forms create a dynamic ecosystem where each element pushes the others forward, expanding the vocabulary of public visual culture.

Below you’ll find a curated set of articles that dive deeper into the history, legal landscape, and most popular techniques of this vibrant movement. From breaking down the myth that all graffiti is vandalism to exploring how stencil art has reshaped political messaging, the collection gives you a practical look at why Street Art matters today and how you can spot, understand, and even support it in Pembrokeshire and beyond.