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Welcome to the new/updated site, with revisions happening daily! Since 2002, your old-school website for all things stencils. Please consider donating what you can to support the much-needed upgrade. Photo, video, links, and exhibit info submissions always welcome. Enjoy and stay curious.

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Visit the Stencil Archive Support page to purchase a copy of Stencil Nation or take a tour.
Find the Stencil Archives' best original photos on Instagram and flickr.

Snyder Drip Stencils (Video)

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Stencil Videos

Bryan Snyder

Art is omnipresent. It is traditional art, music, poetry, theater and more. The thing they all have in common is that each one grows from a single idea. An idea is the seed. The idea grows from that original seed and develops into the art.

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Bryan Snyder

Links

Artists

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Street Lightnin' Gang Revisited

In 1976, David Willis got busted for spraying a stencil. The recent Stencil Archive transition killed the links on the images for the illustrated story version.

I just fixed the links, and the story is worth reposting for newer visitors to check out.

http://www.stencilarchive.org/node/870

If you find broken links anywhere on Stencil Archive, please contact me.

If you have stencil history of your own to share (1999 or earlier), please send me stories, links, photos, etc.

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Stencil Archive News

Vigilante Vigilante Doc Trailer (Video)

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Stencil Videos

More Lucha Madness from Peat (Video)

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Stencil Videos

Fresh Photos for Stencil Archive, pt. 2

270 total uploads for Pt. 1 and Pt. 2

Tunage provided by WWOZ, New Orleans

you have the following choices for dessert:

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Stencil Archive News

Fresh Photos for Stencil Archive, pt. 1

Just harvested from the summer gardens, for you to mix and season.

Audial support by Zizek/Assange/Goodman, Amon Tobin, Themetime Radio Hour, and Chemical Bros.

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Stencil Archive News

Rojo and Harrington Interview Shepard Fairey

Shepard Fairey : Too "Street" For Corporate, Too Corporate For The Street (PHOTOS)
Posted: 07/ 4/11 12:20 AM ET

Shepard Fairey has grown up before the eyes of fans, peers and would be competitors. Undaunted by criticism he gets from both sides of his chosen vocation as a globally-known street artist, the man still has a great deal to say. His art has made its way into homes, museums, wardrobes and book collections in addition to all the walls--legal and illegal--and he pays the price and gains the benefit of all of it. A living conundrum, he embodies the sharp tongued anti-establishment, anti-corporate, anti-police state ethos of his formative years, while gradually beginning to resemble the middle-aged dad who so much of the punk generation rebelled against.

He raises money for individuals and organizations advocating for the disempowered or victimized, yet street art and graffiti kids who feel marginalized in their lives call him a sellout for making commercial work. Without the credibility of major shows, arts institutions, and collectors he could never afford to employ people who help him. Yet keeping it clean and doing legal walls costs him "street cred." How exactly does one become an authority on questioning authority? You try this balancing act, and see how far you get without a scrape or two.

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Artist Interview

News Articles

How do you graffiti-proof public art?

4 July 2011 Last updated at 10:55 ET
From the BBC

Who, What, Why: How do you graffiti-proof public art?

Spray can Graffiti may be art to some, but it is seen as a nuisance by others
Continue reading the main story

A landmark sculpture project is at risk because of spiralling costs - including the budget for keeping it graffiti-free. How do you protect public artworks from vandals?

It was meant to be a towering monument - a 50m (164ft) white horse in the fields of Kent greeting Eurostar passengers to England. But now sculptor Mark Wallinger's so-called "Angel of the South" project is at risk because of rising costs.

The price tag for the Ebbsfleet Landmark Project (ELP) has gone up from £2m to £12m, according to reports, with the budget for removing graffiti over 80 years part of the revised bill.