Street Art: Love it or Hate it?

Street art.

Love it or hate it?

Vandalism or self-expression?

Street art, graffiti, tagging, whatever you want to call it, takes many forms, including sculpture and street installations, and could be considered as old as cave painting.  You see it in urban areas, on train cars, on sidewalks, just about anywhere, really.

While there is plenty of sanctioned art locally, and many wonderful galleries, street art is alive and flourishing in Shreveport-Bossier and the Shreveport Regional Arts Council has sanctioned many public art pieces.  One public work was dealt a setback today.

Locals driving through the intersection of Youree Drive and Kings Highway will notice that the "En Plein Air Gallery"  has been painted over.  The gallery, which was started in 2011 by local artist Nadine Charity, has been developing and evolving.  It began with poster art on the blank wall of an abandoned beauty supply business after the neighboring Murrell's restaurant was demolished.  The blank wall was an open canvas just calling out to local artists.  Most recently red circles have appeared as well as a bamboo and concrete sculpture.

Here is a 2012 video of the poster art which began the gallery:



Via Robert Trudeau, this is the gallery today:

...and the gallerylast week:

Which do you prefer?

Note the concrete and bamboo sculpture in the center.

Local street artists responded to the painting-over of their mural by dressing up the sculpture today:

What do you think?

If your're a fan of street art you might enjoy this Facebook page:  StreetArt in Germany.

Further reading:
Wikipedia:  Street Art
The History of Modern Street Art and Graffiti 
Is Street Art a Crime?
Street Art or Street Crime?