Living Walls, The City Speaks is a street art conference that happens every year. It was started in 2009 by Monica Campana and Blacki Migliozzi. The first conference took place in 2010. The first event was in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2011, another event called "Living Walls, Albany" was held in Albany, New York.

Events

During the events, local and invited artists create murals and other street art. Artists often paint directly on empty buildings, but only after showing their plans to the building owners and getting their permission. The organizer of the Albany event said, "The main goal of this project is to improve the area." The Atlanta events also had lectures and a gallery show. In 2012, only female artists were invited to participate.

Controversy

In 2012, during the third year of the conference, the event faced problems with the Georgia state Department of Transportation (DOT) because of poor communication from the city. This led the DOT to cover the street art piece called "An Allegory," which was created by an artist invited by Living Walls.

Another mural, painted by an Argentine artist named Hyuro, showed a nude woman. This artwork was vandalized and later removed after some residents called it "pornographic."