North and South America
New York City continues to be a street art mecca, attracting artists from around the world.[24] In Manhattan, post-graffiti street art grew in the 1980s from the then largely vacant neighborhoods ofSoHo and the Lower East Side. The Chelsea art district became another locale, with area galleries also hosting formal exhibitions of street artist's work. In Brooklyn, the Williamsburg and Dumboneighborhoods — especially near the waterfront — are recognized street art sites.[25]
Programs in the Pennsylvania cities of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh provide funding to agencies who employ street artists to decorate city walls. The award-winning Mural Arts Program established in 1984 has helped Philadelphia earn praise as the "City of Murals". The project was initiated to encourage graffiti artists toward a more constructive use of their talents. Murals backed by The Sprout Fund in Pittsburgh were named the "Best Public Art" by the Pittsburgh City Paper in 2006.[26][27]
Atlanta, Georgia and Miami, Florida are among southern cities with active street art communities.
Street art in Atlanta centers around the Old Fourth Ward and Reynoldstown neighborhoods, the Krog Street Tunnel, and along the 22-mile BeltLine railway corridor which circles the inner city. Atlanta established a Graffiti Task Force in 2011. Although the city selected a number of murals which would not be targeted by the task force, the selection process overlooked street art of the popular Krug Street Tunnel site. Art created in conjunction with the Living Walls street art conference, which Atlanta hosts annually, were spared. Some actions taken by the unit, including arrests of artists deemed vandals, caused community opposition; some considered the city's efforts as "misdirected" or "futile".[28][29]
Miami's Wynwood neighborhood art district is the setting of "Wynwood Walls" street art mural series, which attracts artists from around the world, especially during Art Basel Miami.[30][31]