Wojcik contrasts "folk art" from "outsider art" by defining "folk art" as "possessing community traditions and collective aesthetics" (Wojcik, 179). Similarly, folklorists Martha Sims and Martine Smith identify folklore, encompassing folk art, as "informally learned, unofficial knowledge about the world, ourselves, our communities, our beliefs, our cultures,
and our traditions that is expressed creatively" (Sims and Smith, 2011).

Both working definitions neatly apply to graffiti and graffiti artists. Graffiti style and aesthetics can vary wildly from artist to artist and place to place, but there are general forms and practices with seemingly universal understanding among artists - ex. bubble-style "throw-ups," classic alpha/numeric traditional "tags", and larger works known as "pieces" (Nomeikaite, 6). This shared tradition and colloquial aesthetic that has been present  in graffiti art for decades cements it as a folk practice, rich in shared culture. Classifying graffiti artists as "outsiders" de-legitimatizes this shared vernacular and cultural understanding as less than "normalized" culture.