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.

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