street art in nyc

in january, i became a five-year resident of san francisco. i absolutely love it... the hills, the ocean, the neighborhoods, the food, the people, the proximity to the mountains, and on and on. i don't pine away for nyc too often, but every once in a while something comes along to remind me why i loved living there for those crucial years in my 20s.

the latest "something" is the Wooster Collective.

woo·ster (noun)
A street in the Soho section of New York City

col·lec·tive (adj.)
Of, relating to, characteristic of, or made by a number of people acting as a group: a collective decision.

The Wooster Collective was founded in 2001. This site is dedicated to showcasing and celebrating ephemeral art placed on streets in cities around the world.

i didn't explore the art world nearly as much as one can in manhattan, but i actually saw quite a bit -- between living in the east village and lower east side and working in chelsea when it was just taking over the gallery hot spot from soho. however, i really haven't explored this world at all in san francisco. i love the murals scattered around the city, and i've tried to capture some of the graffiti, but i wouldn't even know where to start in terms of galleries.

perhaps that's why i got so sucked into the WC site this evening. the focus on underground, or guerilla, or street art is really fascinating. i loved seeing bits of my old hometown, along with a gentle reminder that there's incredibly cool shit happening in my current hometown.

some highlights:
printable cold sores [link to original]
wk interact's murals on lafayette street
the STUMP project [link to original]
lister hits the lower east side
nick georgiou's urban sculptures [link to original]