Curated slideshow of the public art collected by students in Wray’s LANG120 and Johnson’s HUM124.

Street Style Art includes a range of mediums and practices including graffiti, tagging, murals, memorials, and physical installations. In the ancient world, we see public art often as a show of power – monuments erected by a ruler, telling of past glories. When we look at indigenous cultures, public art is also a form of cultural expression and belonging to a specific place.  For example, Mayan pictographic language on tombs and artifacts tells the story of the Popol Vuj, and today we see stylized Mayan pictographs (such as jaguars and native vines) in the murals of artists in Mexico and South America, urban and rural, evidence of/testament to the persistence of Mayan people and ways of being. In the study of the ancient world, we tend to privilege the written word. The lives of everyday people, communicated in visual or other modes, are largely missing from historical record, or invisible. 

Click here for the entire assignment.

This scavenger hunt put into perspective how language can be lacking. Specifically, our own view of language and knowing. Art and beauty holds a unique place in our understanding of the world around us. 

Mike Islas

If I were to tell a story in a public way I would make sure that it is a story I have a place telling. Too often I think ancient stories are shared by people that do not possess the right knowledge on an issue or don’t have enough practical experience of the issue they are representing artistically. Making sure knowledge is shared by reputable sources is extremely important to ensuring the right information is being shared so that change is being made for the right reasons as well as making valuable change happen. I would likely choose something related to feminism or maybe the flaws in the education system because these are issues I have experienced first hand and I have the right platform and understanding to defend a side. 

Kayla Burgess

The scattered graffiti, mechanical structures, commercial paintings, and politically driven murals all showed a side of Asheville that I believe to be the most interesting. The progressive, artistic and creative side- but also the brave side. The bravery to speak your truth. The bravery to face opposition. The bravery to be yourself. If everything else were to wash away in the waves of time, I believe that to be the one thing that translates the same a thousand years from now. The one constant we can all agree on is that it is hard to be yourself in a society that puts similitude on such a high pedestal.

Daysha Cheney

Something that I have noticed as my group was collecting these images and relating them to the art we have seen from ancient cultures is how, no matter the time period, artists use their art to convey their beliefs, and they usually have deeper meanings.

Ash McKim

The use of bright, loud colors represents the straightforward presence of an assortment of minorities, uplifting their voices despite them constantly being silenced. This idea is timeless and as cultural diversity persists, it will be interesting to see how this piece transforms as well. The conversation these art pieces are having are not new, but will always be relevant. 

Esther Min