The First Renace Urban Art Festival takes place

Published October 8th, 2021

The first Renace 2021 Urban Art Festival was held for a week in Colonia San Antonio, with the participation of 23 artists who created 16 murals. San Miguel de Allende could become the Latin American Capital of Urban Art, currently, there are 364 murals.

It all started at Doña Rosa’s Store, on the corner of Refugio and Orizaba with the support of Mrs. Gigi and Waylon Hedegaard. “After they saw the bike they painted, neighbors would come and ask me who painted it. All the people say that my bicycle is just standing there, they forgot their bike, but no, it is painted”: says Doña Rosa.

Waylon Hedegaard conducts walks through the neighborhoods and colonias of San Miguel de Allende, his project started as a free way to get people out of their homes safely during the pandemic and has grown rapidly. The walks are done in cooperation with San Miguel de Allende’s accredited tour guides. The art walks are free, although donations are also received and go 100% to the artists and their work. On the Facebook group Fat Bastard Art Walks the walks are announced:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1079848279208149/?ref=share

The mural by artist Lourdes Sánchez (lulosa) is located on the corner of Refugio and Calle San Juan and depicts a woman from Campeche. In her hometown, Lourdes carries out the “Renueva tu fachada” program with the objective of renewing the image of local businesses and making them more attractive to help them increase their sales after the pandemic contingency. In her mural done in San Miguel she represents the essence of her native island, Isla del Carmen, and the work is titled exactly “Carmen”.

On the corner of San Elías Street and La Esperanza Street, there is a mural by Hebsarte, a renowned muralist from the city of Monterrey. He uses anamorphosis to highlight his works, that is to say, he uses the existing space to create the work, making use not only of the flat space, but also of the surroundings, his work is designed to be contemplated from a specific place, to give the impression of presenting a real image but that in reality it does not exist as such, but is the product of an optical illusion.

On the corner of San Elías and Esperanza is the mural by Gerardo Ramírez Suaste, better known as “Fósil”, an artist from Celaya who has painted murals in different countries in the Americas. His mural represents the joy and traditions of San Miguel on a Van Gogh-style background, showing the culture of our city and the popular games. The mural is inspired by a 1915 engraving found in the Diego Rivera Museum and is reinterpreted by the artist to highlight and rescue popular games such as the sea snake. The mural shows different characters such as the Judas, a girl with bells alluding to the shells of the Guamares culture (natives), and holds the hands of an angel representing St. Michael the Archangel and the Angel of the Posadas. The mural also shows a skull representing the Day of the Dead and a clown spinning a spinning top, which alludes to the convite de Locos that has been held for more than 50 years in San Miguel de Allende for the celebrations of San Antonio de Padua and San Pascual Bailon. The scene has as background a starry sky in the Van Gogh style and makes reference to the traditional “Alborada” and the “cuetes” lights that are observed throughout the year in San Miguel de Allende.

On the corner of Santa Lucia and Libertad is the “Atoyarte” mural, representing San Miguel de Allende, the mojigangas, and the Parroquia in a magical style. The artists Nephali, Alejandro, and Luis Cesar participated. They have a program in Veracruz against violence, they generate cultural art and painting workshops to take them away from violence and bring them closer to culture. The mural also has a Van Gogh-style background.

All participants come from different parts of the country and local artists and children from the Colonia also collaborate. On the corner of Libertad and Sagrado Corazón, in the place known as “El Garambullo” is the mural of Miktlan Colectivo.

The works are distributed throughout the Colonia on Calles Buena Vista, Santiago Apóstol, Sabino and Refugio Norte.