Francisco Aquino talking with youth at his mural. Photo by Michele Kraus.

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StreetSmARTS is a partnership between the San Francisco Arts Commission and the Department of Public Works that connects established urban artists with private property owners to create vibrant murals and make the property less likely to be vandalized. Since the program launched in 2010, the mural sites have seen a dramatic decrease in tagging. Listen to this podcast to learn about the program and hear an artist profile on StreetSmARTS artist Francisco Aquino, who started doing graffiti in the early days of hip-hop.

Special thanks to Paper Son for allowing us use of his re-mix, “Old Man Raps.”