How to Experience Local Life by Exploring Street Art

If you want to understand a city beyond its guidebooks and tourist hotspots, just look to its walls. Street art is the raw, unfiltered voice of a place, revealing its history, struggles, humor, and identity. By exploring local street art, you can dive into local life and experience urban culture at your destination. 

Here’s how to turn street art into a meaningful way to experience local life and how digital tools like 2B LOCAL can deepen the experience.

Street art exists outside traditional galleries. It lives in neighborhoods where people actually work, live, and socialize. Murals, graffiti and stencils often address:

• Social and political issues
• Cultural identity and migration
• Local heroes and historical moments
• Community pride and resistance

In cities worldwide — from Berlin to Lisbon — street art acts as a visual diary of urban life.

1. Discover it by walking

Choose a neighborhood known for creativity and wander side streets, courtyards, and underpasses.

2. Learn the Stories Behind the Art

Street art often carries powerful messages. You could either 

• follow local street art collectives on social media and/ or 
• ask café owners or shopkeepers nearby
• You’ll often uncover stories about community struggles, redevelopment, or cultural celebration

3. Support Local Creative Spaces

Street art thrives where creative communities gather. Visit:

• Independent galleries
• Artist-run cafés
• Community cultural centers
• Pop-up exhibitions

Buying a print or simply sharing the artist’s work online helps sustain the scene.

4. Join a Street Art Tour

Local guides provide context you might miss: from hidden alley pieces to the evolution of graffiti styles.

Tours often include:

• Artist backgrounds
• Neighborhood history
• Insights into legal vs. illegal art spaces

5. How to Photograph Street Art Respectfully

• Never touch or alter the artwork
• Credit artists when posting online
• Be mindful of residents’ privacy

Street art is part of a living neighborhood — respect the people who call it home.

The 2B LOCAL app transforms street art exploration into a social, cultural, and deeply local experience. Instead of passively observing murals, you can connect with the people and stories behind them.

Discover Street Art by Location (POI Filters)

Use Point-of-Interest-based filters to explore street art near you:

• Find murals, graffiti hotspots, and creative districts
• Filter posts by neighborhoods, landmarks, or cultural hubs
• Access local tips about hidden alleys and lesser-known artworks

This allows you to move beyond tourist routes and explore authentic creative spaces.

Connect and Follow Local Artists

Street art is about people. With 2B LOCAL, you can:

• Follow local street artists and illustrators
• Discover their latest works and exhibitions
• Engage with their posts to learn about techniques and inspiration

This creates a direct bridge between travelers and local creative communities.

Curated Local Tips from the Community

Instead of generic travel advice, the 2B LOCAL app offers real insights from locals:

• Best times to visit murals for lighting and atmosphere
• Stories behind specific artworks
• Recommendations for nearby cafés, galleries, and cultural spaces

These tips help you experience neighborhoods the way residents do.

Local Portraits: Stories from the Art & Culture Scene

One of the most powerful features is the ability to read local portraits — short profiles of artists, curators, and cultural changemakers.

Through these stories, you can learn:

• How artists shape their communities
• The cultural influences behind their work
• Personal journeys that reflect the city’s identity

These human stories transform street art from visuals into lived experiences.

Street art invites you to slow down and see a city through local eyes. With an app like 2B LOCAL, the experience becomes even richer — connecting you to local artists, neighborhoods, and stories that make each destination unique.

Next time you travel, skip the museum for a morning and follow the murals — both on the streets and through the voices of locals who bring them to life.

Street art invites you to slow down and see a city through local eyes. With an app like 2B LOCAL, the experience becomes even richer — connecting you to local artists, neighborhoods, and stories that make each destination unique.

Next time you travel, skip the museum for a morning and follow the murals — both on the streets and through the voices of locals who bring them to life.