Thursday, September 4, 2025

Urban artists’ murals change the face of Durango

Durango city has been given a makeover after urban artists painted murals in a competition backed by the municipal government. The City Graff competition saw murals painted on the stairs of one of the city’s main viewing points, Remedios Hill, among other locations, and was organized by the city’s Municipal Youth Institute (IMJ).

There were 100,000 pesos’ (US $5,000) worth of prizes split between five artists, whose works were judged for their originality, detail, realism and accuracy. Artist Mario Luna took the first prize. On one part of the vibrantly painted stairs of Remedios Hill, an artist left a message in large white capitalized letters: “Art isn’t just in museums.”

The municipal government has long supported street art: 288 new works have been painted on the walls of the city across 4,669 square meters during the current administration, Mayor Jorge Salum del Palacio said.

“With the rescue of emblematic places such as these stairs, we also give a space to artists to channel their concerns with proactive messages,” Salum said from the stairs of Remedios Hill during the awards ceremony.

Durango's new 'aerial museum,'
Durango’s new ‘aerial museum,’ visible from city’s cable car system.

The director of the Durango IMJ, Rosina García, said that street art is a positive way for young people to avoid antisocial behavior and to maintain their mental health, which she added was particularly important due to the damaging effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The mayor visited another project promoting urban art in the city on Sunday. Salum took the city’s cable car to see the project “Cielos de Leyenda,” or Skies of Legend, from above. The project, being described as an “aerial museum,” will present 10 large scale visual representations of local myths and legends on the roofs of buildings. The fourth work has now been completed which tells the story of “The First Man,” a myth in which a diminutive figure fights against the sun to stop mankind’s creation.

With reports from El Sol de Durango

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.

What’s on in the Riviera Maya in September

0
Patriotic events take center stage this September in the Riviera Maya, but there are plenty of other things worth seeing, too.
weather map of hurricane Lorena

Hurricane Lorena lashes Los Cabos as it nears the peninsula

0
Having strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane overnight, Lorena is dumping heavy rain on the Baja California Peninsula and may make landfall Friday morning.
Hossein Nabor Guillén in 20165

State official and former mayor killed by gunfire on Guerrero highway

0
Hossein Nabor Guillén had served as mayor of Tixtla before joining Governor Evelyn Salgado's cabinet in Guerrero, a state where political violence is frequent and often committed with impunity.
BETA Version - Powered by Perplexity