Looking back on this class I have a lot to reflect on. Coming into this term I did not know anything about Mexican muralists or Mexican history in general. I would walk by the Orozco murals everyday and not think anything of it. I have always loved art and murals, however I never gave them any real attention before this class. After learning about the rich history that the murals have to offer I was fascinated and intrigued. I found myself researching on my own and looking up different modern artists to see what else I had overlooked. I am so glad to have been able to learn about the rich history of public art, while also acknowledging that there is art all around us.

My oral presentation consisted of me going through all the different sections of my WordPress website. I started on the left and worked my way to the right going through and explaining the tabs that I had created. I explained how I focused mainly on Banksy, but also talked about Los Tres Grandes. My images were a little small for the presentation and I changed them after my presentation so that they would make a bigger statement and be more impactful to the viewer.

My peer review group consisted of 3 students who were researching other contemporary street artists. We were able to talk about the different ways that the artists send messages to the public. Street artists are a very diverse group of people and it was very interesting to learn about the different kinds of public art all over the world. Some people were researching performance artists who although differ from Banksy, they still have the same end goal; to inform the public on social issues at hand.

The first draft of my research paper was very preliminary. I wanted to get down the basics of what I was going to say in my paper and where I was headed. I constructed an introduction paragraph and then made an outline of where and how I would further explain my paper. I set up how my paper would parallel itself between Banksy and Los tres grandes, from political to social impacts. For the end of the paper I would go into deep analysis of who has a stronger hold on the opinion of the public, and to conclude I would offer my thoughts on public art in general.

Bansky is the most well-known street artist, and because of this I was able to find a wealth of information online, in print, and even a documentary. Media is very important for modern day street art, since the art itself is so temporary the fact that it can be saved on the internet forever is invaluable to the craft. The internet has in a way popularized art that was once only a temporary fixture can be saved forever. For my print sources I was able to find several books in annex A of the stacks. One book specifically focused on Banksy and the other was about the business of graffiti in general, touching on the law and on the true audience of these works. The documentary I viewed “Exit through the gift shop” wasn’t practically worthwhile for the purpose of my research. The film was focused on another artist for a majority of the time, and only mentioned Banksy and his work as a peripheral focus revealing little about the artist’s main goals and designs.

Picking a topic for the final paper was a daunting task to say the least. There were many different ways that one could go with the assignment due to the fact that public art comes in many different forms, with no art greater than the other. When exploring the various types of public art, I gravitated towards graffiti since it is something that everyone is familiar with, but rarely educated about. Personally, I’ve always been fascinated with graffiti and the legality of the art form. The process and product of graffiti is elusive and often overlooked by society, however important messages can be sent to society. When I started looking up graffiti I took a liking to one artist, who is one of the biggest names in street art that there is, Banksy. He creates controversial critiques on society in an unassuming way. His art and areas that he focuses on are important to a vast majority of people, making his art relevant and coveted

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