What are the other questions that are lurking just beneath the surface of your guiding essential question?

My essential question is, How does street art impact NYC, from its culture to its residents? As well as the underlying question How I can further my animation skills through this form of storytelling? I was already educated that the city’s culture thrives with the addition of street art. Most of the time on the train or walking through the parks I am uplifted personally by the talent I see. What I didn’t realize was how transformative some street artists are. My first interviewee revealed to me that they saved someone’s life because before committing suicide they heard the music of the street performer, which answers my question so well. This topic is important to me as art is something that’s always been prominent in my life and I want to explore the experiences of others to further my own understanding of myself. 

I guess one experience I’m letting myself resonate with whilst doing this project is when I viewed a video months ago of one of my interviewees, he got tackled by the police because he wasn’t selling his art on a table. This goes to show that NYC isn’t always welcoming and gives some contrast to my general story. My outside source has informed me that the history of street art and the pushback against it goes very far. 

I think it is important to research this question as I feel its something not thought about very often. Yes, we give the street performers our last loose dollar or give a grin or nod when we see an artist but no one thinks about the fact that they are struggling or thriving and I want to put those perspectives out there. A main area of inquiry is how is COVID-19 currently impacting these street artists? One of my interviewees briefly discussed the halt of a large sum on income that usually occurs in springtime given our current situation, so I’m wondering how it impacts the others especially since their jobs are so independent. Another question I have, or had, was what is the general publics’ view on street artists. Previously I was going to get the perspectives of random people walking on the street but now that part of it has been cut out. A question I have about my sub-questions, in relation to animation, is how can I effectively do this animation but also not spend so much time on smaller aspects. I need to think of a more efficient way of doing the frame by frame animations.