In the world’s biggest cities, street art is a way for artists to leave their mark on the world in which they live—but it isn’t always well-received or appreciated.

In New York City, street art has a deeply-entrenched history, though it has only recently been accorded commercial-level high-art status with the advent of massive-scale efforts by artists like Shepard Fairey and British native Bansky, creator of the controversial recent film Exit Through the Gift Shop. The colorful work of a handful of female street artists like native New Yorker Swoon and Fafi (who is French) has also been turning heads.

Local pride among the street art community is often a factor that figures into public reaction to an artist’s work (via Gothamist). South Carolina native Fairey (known for his iconic red and blue “Obama” portrait) recently had his Houston Street mural defaced by local graffiti artists in what the Village Voice calls the year’s “Best Reprisal Against a Carpetbagging, Out-of-Town Street Artist.”

Taking the concept of underground art to a new “low,” the Underbelly Project, one of the largest street art projects ever shown, featuring the work of a number of top international artists, adorns the walls of an abandoned New York subway station (via NYTimes).

With a lower profile but no less credibility, local artist Joe Mangrum literally uses the street as a backdrop for his color-filled pictures in chalk (New York Portraits), sand and dust in Washington Square Park and Union Square, while guerrilla street artists like Olek offer equally ephemeral additions to the cityscape—like this cozy crochet cover that recently found its way onto the infamous Wall Street Bull statue (Downtown Traveler).

Street art organization Wooster Collective celebrates street art at all levels of fame and visibility; it’s a good place to find out where you can catch a glimpse of urban art before it disappears.