How you cite a piece of street art will depend on how you viewed it.
In Person
If you viewed the street art in person and took a photograph of it, you could include the photo as a figure in your work, and you would not need to include a works-cited-list entry. You would include all identifying information in the figure’s caption. Some street art you view might not feature much identifying information on it, so what you include in your caption will depend on what information is present.
If you are not able to include a photograph of the art as a figure in your work, you may be able to include all identifying information in the text of your work, in which case a works-cited-list entry would not be necessary. For example, if you only know the name of the artist and where the art is located, you could include all the information in your text:
On the side of the building at 522 West 147th Street in New York City is Geraluz’s mural of a pair of hooded warblers perched on a stalk of bird’s-foot violet.
However, you should create a works-cited-list entry if you want to include information that does not easily fit into your text, such as the date or year the work was created:
TOTEM. Mural of a rough-legged hawk. 2021, 2157 Amsterdam Ave., New York City.
If you do not know the year or date the street art was created, include the date you viewed it in the Publication Date element of your entry:
Geraluz. Mural of a pair of hooded warblers. 1 Feb. 2022, 522 West 147th St., New York City.
Online or in a Book
If you need to cite a photograph of street art and the photograph can be found on a website, your works-cited-list entry should include the name of the artist in the Author element and the title or a description of the street art in the Title of Source element. In the Title of Container element, list the website where you accessed the photo, followed by the URL in the Location element:
ATM. Mural of a song thrush. ATM Street Art, atmstreetart.com/project/song-thrush/.
If you are citing a photograph reproduced in a book, see our post on that topic.