In Art World, we spotlight the most vibrant international cities and their distinguished cultural pockets via the symbiotic relationship between artists and their environment.

In this episode of Art World, our host Lucia Anaya travels to San Pedro Sula, Honduras, a city facing an ongoing threat of gang violence. There, local artists are taking back the streets through an emerging art scene. Anaya meets with two street artists Maeztro Urbano and Rei Blinky, who are dedicated to bringing art into their city and creating positive spaces for young people to express themselves non-violently. Maeztro Urbano is an anonymous artist who paints murals and posts re-imagined public street signs dripping with political symbolism. “The gangs have always been using these walls to intimidate and create collective panic,” he tells The Creators Project. Maeztro’s art works to tell the stories of the disenfranchised and the displaced but with a painted narrative both children and the elderly can follow. Rei Blinky paints psychedelic murals to make inspirational messages for the community at large. He says, “Graffiti makes you change. Graffiti makes you think. Graffiti helps you live.”

All images of Maestro Urbano courtesy Javier Arcenillas

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