The first stikman appeared in New York more than twenty years ago. The figures can also be found in the streets of Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C and other U.S. cities. They are the work of an artist who goes by the name Stikman who has since moved on to gallery shows featuring fuller and more varied work.
The Washington Post may have interviewed him in 2008 but could not verify the artist’s identity. In 2012, Stikman did an interview with Street Art NYC.
When I found out Stikman had put work out around Washington, D.C., I needed to find it, especially after my failed attempt to find a Toynbee tile (please email me if you find one in DC!).
I found several stikman figures using this list of locations.
Waiting for the light to change at 7th and Jefferson with my two kids, I spotted a stikman in the crosswalk. I
said to the tourist next to me, “See that yellow thing in the street? The guy who did that is a famous artist now.”
“That thing? What is that, spray paint?” she said.
“No. Some kind of tile.”
“Ohhhkay.”
The light changed and I took my kids into the crosswalk and stopped to take a picture of the stikman. The woman did not stop, but instead crossed the street, then yelled at me to move along as the walk signal ticked down.
