Graffiti Discussion

I am exploring the East Village. I am interested in this because its the neighborhood I live in, and I think there are many interesting things that are worth photographing there.

I took the first photograph, and you can see it is a peace mural. I know that this is a graffiti mural. My interpretation of this photograph is that its trying to get the message of peace out by expressing this art in the neighborhood.
It has been said that one image is worth a thousand words. This could be true about this photograph because it sends people a message through graffiti art, which may attract attention to people. It reflects my theme in that it was taken in the East Village, but also that it is something interesting, that may not be seen in other neighborhoods.
One thing that I know about the East Village is that there is a lot of graffiti in the area, but most of it may be considered vandalism. One thing that I wonder about graffiti is if its considered art.

The second image was created by dpats2013 and I found it at http://www.flickr.com/photos/42621180@N05/4128900348/in/pool-youthvoices. In this image, I see the back of a truck covered in graffiti. I know that the graffiti shown in this picture is considered vandalism, rather than art that's trying to get a message across. My interpretation of this image is that its vandalism of this truck, even thought I think of this a a form of art.
The second image relates to my photograph because it is also a photograph of graffiti art. As I look at this and other images, my next image will probably compare photos of graffiti that are art, but also vandalism. If I were to look up some information about my theme/topic, I would like to know more about the types of graffiti people consider as art, and the types of graffiti people consider as vandalism or not as art.
Since you are reading this post, I would like to ask you is graffiti art or just vandalism?