Street Art Cities celebrating 100.000 artworks and the community behind them!
From a global map to a living ecosystem, how street art found its voice through data, community, and a global map.
When Street Art Cities launched in 2016, the mission was simple: map the world’s street art so it wouldn’t disappear unnoticed. A global map felt ambitious enough, a way to document murals, tags, paste‑ups, and interventions before they were painted over, demolished, or forgotten. But what happened next went far beyond mapping.
Today, as we celebrate 100.000 documented artworks, Street Art Cities has evolved into something much bigger:
a living ecosystem where urban art is preserved, understood, celebrated, and given a voice backed by unique cultural data.
A map that became a movement
What started as a tool quickly became a community. Hunters, the local heroes who document their cities, began uploading artworks not just to record them, but to tell the stories behind them.
Artists joined to claim their profiles and connect with audiences. Festivals mapped their editions. Cities used the platform to highlight their cultural identity. And everyday users explored, saved, checked in, and shared what they found.
The map didn’t just grow.
It came alive.
Co‑founder Thomas Schoffelen reflects on this transformation:
“A lot has happened in the last decade, and it has been amazing to build such a supportive, active and energized community. We’re really starting to see the fruits of our labor these past two years, with growth doubling almost every year. I’m excited to see where the community will take this next.”
For Tim Marschang, the journey began even earlier, long before Street Art Cities existed — with a personal spark that grew into a global mission:
“I stumbled into graffiti as a timid guy looking for a new challenge, and it opened the door to an entirely new world. Urban Art pulled me in, introduced me to inspiring people, and pushed me to grow. Riding that wave, we built a platform that’s now both popular and respected — all from our hometowns of Heerlen and Antwerp.”
From a map to a fully interactive app
The Street Art Cities app began as a simple map‑based tool — a way to find murals nearby. But as the community grew, so did the possibilities. What was once a digital atlas has transformed into a full engagement platform where users don’t just look at art; they interact with it.
Today, the app allows people to:
Mark artworks as seen
Like and support their favorite pieces
Follow artists, cities, and festivals
Build personal collections of artworks
Track their journeys through neighborhoods
Discover curated routes and local stories
Contribute missing artworks through community uploads
The app has become a place where the global street art community meets — a digital extension of the streets themselves.
Data that gives Urban Art a voice
Street art has always been democratic, but rarely has it been measurable. With 100.000 uploads, Street Art Cities now holds one of the world’s most unique cultural datasets, a dataset that reveals:
Which artworks resonate most with locals and travelers
Which artists are gaining global visibility
How festivals shape neighborhoods
How cities evolve through public art
How quickly artworks disappear and why documentation matters
This data doesn’t reduce art to numbers.
It amplifies it — giving artists, festivals, and cities the evidence they need to show the value of urban creativity.
Learn more about impact metrics or how artists benefit from this visibility.
A thriving community behind every upload
Reaching 100.000 artworks is not an achievement of a platform, it’s the achievement of a global community.
Hunters who walk the streets, climb the stairs, and chase the light to document artworks before they vanish
Artists who trust the platform to represent their work and legacy
Festivals that map their editions and preserve their history
Partner cities that use the map to showcase their cultural identity
Users who explore, save, check in, and share their discoveries
Co‑founder Bart Temme captures this spirit perfectly:
“The ride has truly been amazing — 100,000 documented works quantify that. But it’s the countless meetings with passionate hunters, creative artists and municipalities invested in this artform that make it an honor to be part of. It feels like an extended family, united in a shared mission to document, celebrate and protect street art for generations to come.”
From documentation to cultural stewardship
Street Art Cities is no longer just a map.
It’s a cultural infrastructure.
A place where:
Artworks are preserved long after they disappear
Artists gain visibility beyond their city
Festivals build lasting archives
Cities understand their creative identity
Communities connect through shared discovery
Users actively shape the narrative of urban art through engagement
Urban art has always deserved a stronger voice.
Today, it finally has one — backed by data, powered by people, and mapped across the world.
The journey continues
To be completely honest building a huge community like this over the years hasn’t come easy, we learned a lot, we made some mistakes, one bigger than the other, but we always keep one thing in mind: teamwork makes the dream work.
100.000 artworks is a milestone, but it’s also a beginning.
The next chapter is about deepening the ecosystem: more tools, more insights, more ways for the community to shape the culture.
Because street art isn’t static.
And neither are we.
Here’s to the next 100.000.