\u201cThey might assume that it was cheaper, quicker, and did not include an artist,\u201d Hope said.<\/p>\n
Indeed, there was chatter this summer that Hope shouldn\u2019t have used AI to add to the area\u2019s street art culture, said Gary Strack, who launched Graffiti Alley in 2007<\/a>. For nearly two decades, the alley has been one of only a few public sites in Greater Boston where anyone can legally post graffiti art.<\/p>\n \u201cThe question sort of goes, \u2018does AI have a place in street art?,\u2019\u201d Strack said. \u201cAI is a tool lots of artists use, no doubt, but it\u2019s interesting that now it\u2019s coming down to the street level.\u201d<\/p>\n Graffiti Alley has long been known as a \u201ctemporal\u201d space, Strack said, where colorful creations are painted and re-painted on top of each other.<\/p>\n For that reason, he said he wasn\u2019t surprised Hope\u2019s mural was ripped off the wall.<\/p>\n \u201cThings get covered over in Graffiti Alley all day long,\u201d Strack said. \u201cThere\u2019s no sense of permanence on the street, and I don\u2019t think there should be.\u201d<\/p>\n Hope\u2019s 20-by-10 foot banner featured figures walking beneath bright neon street signs and storefronts, including a depiction of Dx Arcade. Having formerly worked as a zoning attorney, Hope said he wanted the mural to conjure what a more built-up Central Square could look like decades from now. The mural was also meant to promote the arcade, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI really went for something that looked like an advertisement, it looked like a picture,\u201d Hope said.<\/p>\n But that didn\u2019t sit right with some street art proponents, Strack said.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the ways the [street art] community developed was as a reaction to billboards and ads that that people put up everywhere,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n This summer, someone voiced their disdain for the Dx Arcade mural by tagging it with the message \u201cf*** AI,\u201d Hope said.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are just intolerant,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n NBC 10 reported on Tuesday<\/a> that the mural had gained a few detractors.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think businesses should use AI for advertising,\u201d Caden Ahmed told the television station<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m happy it\u2019s gone.\u201d<\/p>\n The banner thieves could be charged with \u201cart theft,\u201d according to police.<\/p>\n \u201cIt could go to someone\u2019s motivation for stealing it,\u201d Reardon said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Claire Thornton can be reached at claire.thornton@globe.com<\/a>. Follow Claire on X @claire_thornto<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/VPCOJQTLHTILQBUJGCE6MO26UY.JPG\")
The artwork that Dx Arcade owner Sean Hope commissioned artist Brian Life to create using AI.Courtesy of Sean Hope<\/p>\n