
Even Before Banksy’s renowned documentary, Exit Through the Gift Shop, the topic of street art was one of major controversy. But, painting buildings is no longer something done exclusively in the shadows by angsty teens with a spray paint fetish. Whether you consider graffiti to be street art, or street art to be graffiti, you have to admit that some of it can be quite lovely. Where once there were blank walls there are now giant murals bringing color to otherwise drab corners of urban landscapes. And if it means more color, we’re into it. Check out some of the best street artists on Instagram so you can follow their work around the world!
1. @hanksynyc: His street name being a knock-off of the famous Banksy is no accident. Hanksy’s work is forever the art pun and parody. He pokes fun at celebs, often by putting their heads on foreign objects.
2. @taylurk: Taylor White is one of the few ladies in the world of street art and her work makes a stand-alone statement. She’s based in North Carolina and paints up jaw-dropping portraits, mostly of kids.
3. @houseofmeggs: Meggs’s murals are full of movement and spontaneity. His splashes and drips of paint throughout his work really give it a ton of energy.
4. @tristaneaton: If you took beautiful works of art, ripped them apart, and put them back together again, they’d look something like Tristan’s murals. It’s a painted collage!
5. @osgemeos: These two Brazilian artists have created a world of fun, colorful characters that make them one of our favorite finds. These cartoon people painted on giant towers for the Vancouver Biennale look like they’re straight out of a dream!
6. @gaiastreetart: Gaia’s work is diverse and full of surprises. He’s done murals in NYC and Baltimore and his work ranges from hyperrealism to abstract shapes.
7. @escif: This Spanish artist has a knack for recreating real objects with sense of humor. His paintings are similar enough that you have to do a double take to see if it’s an object or art.
8. @official_morley: Morely’s typographic posters splashed throughout LA are bold statements both in what they say and how they look.
9. @dabsmyla: DABS bring life to the otherwise inanimate and makes them into super fun patterns.
10. @samrodriguezart: Sam’s latest work is an ongoing series cleverly titled, “Typefaces.” His use of bright color is exquisite and we love how easily his work flows from flat graphics to lifelike depth.
11. @huskmitnavn1: The work of this Copenhagen-based artist reminds us of vintage cartoons. His figures are flat and delightfully exaggerated. Not to mention, cleverly placed.
12. @r_o_n_e: Rone‘s subjects are usually lovely ladies, most often one dubbed Jane Doe. You can find her on the sides of building all around Melbourne Australia.
13. @finok: Raphael Sagarra aka Finok works out of South America. His subjects are bubbly and bold like cartoons, but they usually have a metaphorical message.
14. @judithsupine: This artist fancies surreal collage in the 2D and 3D form. On the streets, her work is punchy with neons and intricate line work.
15. @cleonpeterson: Cleon is an LA-based artist whose work focuses on the human form. His murals look like modern-day hieroglyphs.
16. @daleast: The work of DAleast will really take your breath away. Most of the artist’s murals are representations of animals in nature. His style is to paint them as if they’re made of strips of wood, and it’s kind of epic.
17. @jules_latlas: This French artist fancies line work. His pieces focus on bold lines with stark contrast, creating hypnotic optical illusions. You can see his work in galleries and on the street.
18. @wellingcourtmuralproject: Put on a by a NYC group called Ad Hoc Art, this is a neighborhood effort to cover the walls of the Queens neighborhood of Welling Court in art!
19. @banksy: We’re hesititant to believe that the most famously enigmatic street artist in the world has an Instagram account… but he is full of surprises. In any case, this Insta feed is a great representation of Banky’s growing body of work.
Who are some of your street artist faves? Lets us know in the comments!
Welcome to Selfmade Finance School, our new money series with Block Advisors to help small business owners with their tax, bookkeeping, and payroll needs year-round. This week, we explore the tax implications of bringing family members into your business.
The question for today is this: Does hiring your family members make sense for your business? Let me be clear. This is not a piece about whether hiring your family members makes sense for your relationships with those family members. As someone who is part of a family business, I could fill up a lot more than 600 words on my opinions about that. For today's purposes, we focus on whether it makes sense from an overall "good business and tax implication" perspective. As it turns out, there is a decent amount of tax nuance when it comes to employing your family. Let's break it down based on relationship to the employee:
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Spouses Who Are In Business Together
Personally, if I had to be in business with my husband, it would not go well. However, many couples build viable, strong businesses together and I say, good for them! Depending on how you have your business entity structured, it will make a big difference on the tax treatment of you and your spouse working as partners. Because a business jointly owned and operated by a married couple is generally treated as a partnership for Federal tax purposes, the spouses must comply with filing and record keeping requirements imposed on partnerships and their partners. The election to file two Schedule C (Form 1040) forms, (one for each spouse) permits certain married co-owners to avoid filing partnership returns, provided that each spouse separately reports a share of all the businesses' items of income, gain, loss, deduction, and credit. Under the election, both spouses will be subject to self-employment tax and on net earnings from self-employment and receive credit for Social Security earnings.
One Spouse Employs Another
If you have a dynamic where your spouse is an employee of your business, then your spouse's wages are subject to income tax withholding, Social Security and Medicare taxes. If you are self-employed (not a corporation or a partnership), your spouse's pay does not have to be included in your federal unemployment tax account (FUTA) contributions and payments. However, if your business is a corporation or a partnership you must include that spouse's pay in your unemployment tax contribution calculation.
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You Employ Your Child
First, let's be clear. I work in my family business, but I am an adult, so I am treated just like a normal employee. However, if you, for example, run a family restaurant and want to hire your children under 18 to work for you, there are some tax benefits. But first, you should check with your state for rules on how many hours minors can work (in non-agricultural jobs) and reference the Fair Labor Standards Act for information on limitations on the kinds of work children can perform.
"This is an often overlooked or under-utilized strategy. Paying your children for true services they provide in your business can be a powerful tax-saving tool," says Cathi Reed, Block Advisors Regional Director. "If you are a sole-proprietorship or single member LLC, and the child is less than 18 years of age, the business is not required to withhold FICA or payroll taxes. The child can use his or her standard deduction against income you pay."
You Hire Your Parent
Oh dear. If you are brave enough to do this, know that you will need to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on your parent's wages and make the appropriate withholdings, but you don't have to pay unemployment taxes. Now all you have to do is convince your parent that you are the boss. Have fun with that!
Is Hiring Family Members Worth It For The Tax Benefits?
"There are some positive tax advantages to hiring family members. It's important to treat a family member like any other employee. Hiring your children can result in substantial savings for businesses. Make sure your child has real, age-appropriate work to do and a reasonable pay rate, comparable to other employees. Consult with a Block Advisors small business certified tax pro to ensure that you are complying with all requirements," advises Reed. "Block Advisors, a team within H&R Block, is dedicated to meeting the tax, bookkeeping and payroll needs of small business owners year-round. To start working with the tax experts at Block Advisors, visit blockadvisors.com."
In my opinion, you should not hire a family member solely because of the tax benefits. You should always hire based on whether that person is right for the job and keep in mind how this hire could materially impact your relationship with that person and others in your family. Finally, as I mentioned, make sure you have a tax professional on your team when making these determinations. As you can see, things can get a little tricky!
*All details were sourced from IRS.gov and blockadvisors.com
The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect those held by Kestra Investment Services, LLC or Kestra Advisory Services, LLC. This is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific investment advice or recommendations for any individual. It is suggested that you consult your financial professional, attorney, or tax advisor with regards to your individual situation. Comments concerning the past performance are not intended to be forward looking and should not be viewed as an indication of future results. Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC (Kestra IS), member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (Kestra AS), an affiliate of Kestra IS. O'Keeffe Financial Partners and any other entity listed herein is not affiliated with Kestra IS or Kestra AS Investor Disclosures: https://bit.ly/KF-Disclosures