New York City Murals

We might think of public art as a contemporary genre. In truth, the impulse to make a mark, decorate, depict, and design for others to see is as old as humanity itself. The earliest traces we have of bygone human beings are the art they left behind.

Public art, or “street art” as it is better known today, is art intentionally created in a public space. This could include walls, windows, benches, lampposts, etc. Street art, graffiti, and vandalism are often confused. Street art is not always vandalism; many street artists are granted permission and even commissioned to create pieces in public spaces. Graffiti is usually text-based and is commissioned less often. Any art—of any kind—that is created in a public place without permission is considered vandalism. 

Today we are very used to seeing murals, sculptural installations, and even performance art in public spaces. But public art has a long and complex history. Since the dawn of human existence, society’s view of the genre has cycled through many lenses. From an inevitable by-product of consciousness, to spiritual, cultural, rebellious, or revolutionary, celebratory, to a defacement, uncultured, or undesirable—and all the way back again—it seems we cannot make up our mind about this genre. 

Fortunately, we live in an age primarily of embrace. Around the world, public art installations are now points of pride for communities, tourist draws, and the subjects of tours, books, documentaries, and even academic study. 

Below, we outline just a few of the most notable pieces of public art in New York City. 

Keith Haring’s Mural in Woodhull Hospital in Brooklyn 

An advocate who believed art should be able to be enjoyed by all, Keith Haring gifted Woodhull Hospital two murals in 1986. In Haring’s traditional style, he adorned the hospital lobby’s 700-foot long border with animals and child-like figures dancing and playing. As the mural is the first thing that patients see upon entering the hospital, Haring wanted the design to be “positive, uplifting, unaggressive, imaginative and comforting.”

These murals were not Haring’s only contribution to the Woodhull Hospital community. During the week he spent painting them, Haring also spent time with staff, patients, and visitors, doing small, personal drawings for anyone who requested them. 

Biggie Smalls Mural in Brooklyn

Located in the heart of Brooklyn, this notorious “King of New York” mural stands only blocks from where Biggie Smalls himself grew up, on one of the streets the iconic rapper frequented with his early freestyles. The 38-foot tall painting honors Smalls and the community that raised him. Itl was created by artists Naoufal “Rocko” Alaoui and Scott “Zimer” Zimmerman of Spread Art NYC in 2015. 

When an issue concerning rental of the building became known to the public, fans of the artpiece and its impact on the community banded together and petitioned to save the mural. Following this, the artists no longer had to pay for the mural to sit on the wall of, allowing it to be enjoyed by the public for the years to come. 

Hammer Boy by Banksy, Upper West Side

While not a large-scale mural, the legendary street artist Banksy has also made his mark on New York City. Located on the corner of 79th and Broadway, “Hammer Boy” is painted around a real fire hydrant, and depicts a young boy with a hammer, appearing almost like he is playing the carnival game “high striker.” 

After an unknown assailant attempted to vandalize the work in the first few days of its appearance, fans far and wide made a stance, and the work is now properly protected by a transparent screen nailed to the wall. 

Fight for Street Art by Kobra, Williamsburg

“Fight for Street Art” by Kobra supports the fight for public art and murals’ right to exist. Located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the piece depicts pop art legend Andy Warhol and 80s art superstar Jean-Michel Basquiat, who were close friends in real life, staring down their viewers, fists up, with boxing gloves criss-crossed. The expressions of these two art giants say all that needs to be said to the viewer about the importance of public art. 

In light of its history and modern day status, one may ask why public art has become so important to people. As we’ve seen, it has the power to mobilize large groups of people who clearly feel a deeply personal connection and protectiveness over it, even if they have nothing to do with the artist or the art’s subject. 

Public art provides a commonality within a community. It’s something that belongs to everyone. In this way, it both builds community and is able to challenge communal and social issues in an unavoidable, un-ignorable way that is both direct and impersonal. It is not an attack. That is why we have seen communities latch onto it in times of social unrest, for example, in the Black Lives Matter protests in New York City in 2020. 

In this vein, Pieces with Purpose’ Spring 2024 project was a mural for gun violence awareness which will be displayed in a school in Brooklyn. Read more about that project here, and the next time you pass a piece of public art, we urge you to stop and think about how it speaks both for and to you, and the community that created it.