Yesterday we learned that the Brooklyn Museum was cancelling plans to host "Art In The Streets," a graffiti and street art-themed exhibition currently at LA's Museum of Contemporary Design. The Museum says their reasons are purely economic, though the show had already raised some ire before it even opened, and has been tied to a spike in graffiti-related arrests in LA. We spoke to some prominent street artists and gallerists here about their thoughts on the move:

Carlos "Mare 139" Rodriguez, subway graffiti artist, sculptor, and NYU Scholar in Residence who has work in the show: "It's surprising and not surprising at the same time. Anything that's as controversial and politically charged as graffiti in NYC is going to have some blowback. It's unfortunate, because if any place could have a great discourse about this art, it should happen here. In many ways, it falls in line with the shortsightedness of New York in not including a diversity of voices in artistic institutions. We were all hoping that this show in Brooklyn would give us a platform to tell our stories."

Martha Cooper, legendary photographer of the New York graffiti scene, who also has works in the show: "Of course I'm seriously disappointed that the show isn't coming to NYC. I was really looking forward to seeing it here in my own town. However I am taking the museum's word about the reason for cancellation being a lack of funding. I think the fear of bad press was from potential funders, not because the museum got cold feet. Art in the Streets as staged in LA is a spectacular show in an enormous space which was extensively modified at great cost for this exhibition. I have no idea how much it cost but probably the Brooklyn Museum couldn't find anyone willing to back it. It's a shame but understandable given the financial climate. There are many places for people to donate money and I guess no one with the means to do it felt this was a priority."

And Hugo Martinez, a graffiti gallerist and author of Graffiti NYC , simply sent us this: "The Other Good Reason To Ditch Deitch."