I was inspired by a similar post by Peter and Dona on the blog, “Living the Q Life,” which you can see here. I think there’s a difference between graffiti and street art, but I’m not exactly sure what defines art and graffiti, other than some obvious differences. If someone just paints their name or someone else’s name on a bridge, that’s definitely graffiti. On the other hand, if the painting is clearly meant to be something more than just a scribbling I think it falls more into the street art category. Of course art is one of the most subjective forms of expression there is. One person may love a drawing while another person thinks it looks atrocious and if it’s on a public building, some may find that inappropriate.
I’ll leave you with some of the best photos of street art I’ve taken around the world.
Even though I looked through every photo I have ever downloaded to Google photos, I couldn’t find a single one of what I would call graffiti. I guess that should tell you what I think of graffiti versus street art!
What about you guys? Do you like graffiti? Do you like street art?
Happy travels!
Donna
runningtotravel 
It’s like the difference between art and pornography.
You asked an interesting question, so I knew there had to be essays about the difference.
http://schriftfarbe.com/the-difference-between-street-art-and-graffiti
https://www.westword.com/arts/ten-ways-to-tell-the-difference-between-street-art-and-graffiti-6961170
I’m a big fan of public art of various kinds, so this was interesting to read.
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Thanks for the links. They were both interesting reads. I like the quote, “What I feel is that street art is basically gentrified graffiti” in the second essay.
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In my area I’ve encountered true graffiti – names, phone numbers, sexual drawings and curse words usually scribbled under bridges. The first time I encountered true street art was in Chicago. I was amazed to see a full mural under a bridge. I found it beautiful and certainly wish there was some of it around here!
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It seems like street art has become more popular in the last 10 or so years around the world. Many years ago it seemed like pretty much all you would see is graffiti like you mentioned, stuff just scribbled under bridges, but now it’s on a whole different level, and is actually something other people enjoy seeing. It’s interesting to me.
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these are some gorgeous specimen of street art. I think the difference between the two has to do with composition and use of space. These are like paintings, but better, especially when they incorporate the construction of the wall or the surrounding spaces.
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Very nicely worded. I agree.
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I recall when a mural was uncommon but now we see them frequently in small towns and large. I’m not a fan of “tags” or scribbles but often have seen beautiful non-pictorial street art.
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True. It seems like murals are much more common than they used to be and I think the quality has just gotten better over time as well.
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