The idea of Civic Engagement and public art is where the mural begins to transgress its roots of graffiti art as  informal public engagement and into the mural as a publically comissioned work. In other words, the use of street art shifts from personal commentary made public, and into a calculated platform of public discourse (and the attatched community networks).

This can be seen in the immediate data map by looking at how many works are commissioned by an "official organization" and how many formerly graffiti artists are now being commissioned to do more public work, such as Manny Vega and Chico Garcia.

Using the mural as an organized platform for public engagement has come primarily from the the East Harlem Preservation Society, at least for this data set. In these cases, in addition to facilitating the construction of murals such as the Memorial for Julia de Burgos on Lexington ave. and 106th st., they have also facilitated the restoration of both "The Spirit of East Harlem" on 104th st. and Lexington ave. and "Dos Alas" on 3rd ave. and 105th st. 

(Photo by:East Harlem News)

While El Museo el Barrio and the Julia de Burgos Latino Cultural Center were not explicitly involved in constructing or restoring murals, they have been involved in cultivating a community understanding of the importance of murals in East Harlem as an essential attribute of the neighborhood, and a pride in the neighborhood itself.

Records for the Restoration of "the Spirit of East Harlem":

East Harlem News

Gonzalez, David. "Vandals Sully an Ode to East Harlem". The New York Times; 26, June 2009.

Records for the Restoration of "Dos Alas":

The Uptowner

DNAinfo