I spent a day recently in Newark, NJ, and was surprised–and pleased–to see murals wherever I went. Not only were the images and the stories they told captivating, it was wonderful to see that they hadn’t been defaced with graffiti. To me, this speaks to the respect people have for public art. When politicians oppose money for the arts, they should consider the power of public murals to bring beauty and instill community pride. And while pols may think that funding art is a lower priority than, say, funding police departments, they should consider that the lack of graffiti reflects the public’s appreciation of the form. Or they can look at research, which has shown “the great power of public art to influence how we move, think and feel in city environments.”