Understanding the Different Practices We Call ‘Street Art’

Bristol is known worldwide for its street art, something reflected in its two-page spread in the Lonely Planet travel guide. Bristol is the only UK city to feature in this way, largely due to its strong creative culture and the visible presence of art in public spaces.

However, a question that comes up repeatedly is: what do we actually mean by “street art”?

Is it murals? Graffiti? Sculptures?

This piece aims to bring clarity to that question, and to outline where much of the confusion comes from.

Through our conversations with the council, it’s clear there is strong support for street art and a genuine commitment to the creative industries.

Where things begin to blur is when vandalism, tagging, and advertising are routinely grouped together under the same label, creating confusion about purpose, process, and responsibility. Ultimately, about what street art actually is.

Street Art: An Umbrella Term

Street art is a broad umbrella term used to describe creative work that appears in public space.

Because art is inherently subjective, this umbrella covers a wide range of practices. Almost any visual intervention found on the street can be described as street art: from murals and graffiti to tagging, advertising, sculptures, and even integrated brickwork or surface treatments.

What these practices share is location, not purpose or process. They all exist in public view and, in different ways, alter how a space looks or feels by adding colour, variation, or visual interest.

This breadth is exactly why the term becomes difficult to use with any specificity. “Street art” tells us where something exists, but not why it exists, how it was created, or what responsibilities sit behind it.

For that reason, street art works well as a descriptive umbrella, but it is too broad to be used on its own to define intent, risk, or appropriate process.

Public art: A Professional Discipline

Public art is already well defined by councils as art that exists in the public realm, regardless of whether it sits on public or private land, or whether it is funded publicly or privately.

At first glance, this definition can appear similar to street art, as both exist in public space. The key difference, however, lies in intent, commissioning, and process.

Public art is created with purpose. It is typically commissioned in response to a specific place, integrated into the designed environment, or delivered through a structured artistic process that considers context, audience, and long-term presence.

In practice, public art can include:

• murals,

• sculpture,

• integrated architectural artworks,

• lighting installations,

• temporary or permanent site-specific interventions.

Unlike street art as a broad descriptor, public art carries clear responsibilities. It requires permissions, planning, safety considerations, and an understanding of lifespan, maintenance, and public impact.

In short, public art is intentionally delivered to shape experience, engage the public, and contribute meaningfully to its surroundings, not simply to decorate space.

Graffiti: a cultural art form

Graffiti is a distinct artistic practice with its own history, codes, and creative logic.

While graffiti sits within the broad umbrella of street art, it does not automatically become public art. Graffiti operates according to its own cultural rules, which are separate from formal commissioning, planning, or civic frameworks.

Despite common assumptions, graffiti is not a random or unskilled act. It involves intentional design, strong consideration of letterform, composition, and placement, and a high level of technical craft developed through practice.

Graffiti is also highly community-oriented. Artists often work within crews or collectives, and social painting plays a significant role in the development of style, reputation, and shared standards within the culture.

Common forms of graffiti include lettering-based work, character illustration, and abstract or patterned compositions.

A defining distinction is where and how graffiti typically appears, often in unexpected locations and frequently without formal permission. Cultural legitimacy, however, does not equate to procurement, planning, or public art compliance.

Tagging: identity-based marking

Tagging is often grouped under graffiti, but it operates on a different creative and cultural logic.

Tagging involves the repeated application of a name, symbol, or short phrase across public space, most commonly using spray paint or marker. The primary objective is visibility and repetition, rather than the creation of a site-specific artwork.

Unlike graffiti, which typically involves unique compositions and considered placement, tagging relies on reuse of the same mark across multiple locations. Impact is achieved through volume and frequency, not variation or design development.

For this reason, tagging is better understood as a form of identity marking rather than an audience-facing artistic practice. It is not commissioned, not site-responsive, and does not operate within public art or mural frameworks.

Separating tagging from graffiti is important. While both exist within the broader street art landscape, they differ fundamentally in intent, process, and outcome — and treating them as the same thing obscures meaningful distinctions when decisions are being made about public space.

Advertising: commercial communication

Advertising is a long-established creative discipline that plays a visible role in public space.

From painted shopfronts to large-scale billboards, advertising has long shaped how streets look and how places are perceived. For this reason, it is often loosely grouped under the broad umbrella of street art.

Advertising is typically created with clear intent and professional design input. It considers audience, visibility, and impact, and can, at times, enhance or activate a space visually.

The defining difference lies in purpose. Advertising exists to promote a product, service, or brand. Its primary function is commercial, to raise awareness, influence behaviour, and support sales.

Because of this, advertising should not be framed as public art or cultural contribution. While it may be visually engaging, it does not operate with the same objectives, responsibilities, or public accountability as commissioned public art.

Blurring this distinction creates problems, particularly when branding, decorative murals, or promotional artwork are presented as cultural or civic interventions, rather than what they are: commercial communication.

Where the Real Problems Arise

The real issues arise when “street art” is used to classify multiple, very different practices.

People’s emotional responses to street art vary widely, largely because the term itself covers such a broad range of activity. As a result, disagreements often emerge not from opposing views, but from a lack of shared understanding about what is actually being discussed.

In practice, people are responding to different experiences, but debating them as if they are the same thing.

The outcome:

• When everything is labelled “street art,” negative experiences bleed into positive ones.

• Poorly executed work, vandalism, or unwanted marking shapes perception of commissioned, well-considered public art.

• Genuinely valuable cultural practices become pulled into planning and enforcement conversations they were never meant to sit within.

When distinctions aren’t made, decision-makers become cautious, communities become sceptical, and opportunities for meaningful public art are either avoided or rushed.