Mural, Mural on the Wall

Santurce es Ley and the Soul, Spirit, and Beating Heart of Puerto Rico’s Booming Street Art Scene

Art is everywhere in Puerto Rico. World-class museums, flourishing galleries, a rich tradition, and a deep pool of unique and talented artists make the island archipelago a natural choice for travelers looking for profound cultural experiences beyond the shining sun, sandy beaches and sparkling seas that draw people to the Caribbean. Case in point is the stellar street art scene, which is justly celebrated for an ever-growing array of stunning murals that breathe new life into storied urban centers and bring art out into the open for all to soak in.

Nowhere is this democratization of art more evident than in Santurce, a thriving San Juan neighborhood within strolling range of the capital city’s tourism hub that boasts a myriad of murals soaring alongside and over a growing roster of galleries, restaurants, shops, and other hang out spots. On a logistical note, the muralist hot-zone is within easy reach of both the Puerto Rico Art Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art of Puerto Rico.

Although it has been likened to Miami’s Wynwood Arts District, Santurce’s Calle Serra area stands apart as an accessible avenue into an evolving world inhabited by building-size paintings that speak to the unique experiences of Puerto Rico and of the local and international muralists who put their works on display for all passers-by. Walking among the transformed cement canvasses in this working-class and cultural focal point leaves one with the sense that Puerto Rico’s street artists, and perhaps the island itself, are still early in an upward arc where the sky is the limit.

It is no coincidence that the area gave rise to Santurce es Ley, an annual street art festival dating back more than a decade that is unrivaled in the Caribbean and has spawned offshoots and similar-focused events across the Puerto Rico archipelago. In the process, local artists have deployed their passion and perspectives along pathways in downtown areas in virtually all the island’s 78 municipalities, or pueblos, with particularly notable concentrations in the Loiza Street area of San Juan and the southwest coast town of Yauco among other muralist strongholds.

Founded by local artist Alexis Bousquet, Santurce es Ley is centered on the sector’s vibrant Calle Cerra, where murals are birthed before our eyes in real time during an annual festival that has grown to incorporate music, gastronomy, and other cultural elements. It is a feast for the senses that encapsulates the spirit, soul and beating heart of Puerto Rico’s street art universe. Bousquet has launched another public art initiative in the downtown area of Río Piedras, in the shadow of the flagship University of Puerto Rico campus, where a long-thriving commercial, cultural, and intellectual hub stands at the cusp of rebirth and renewal along the pedestrian walkway known as the Paseo de Diego.

As Santurce es Ley and the murals that mark it have grown in popularity and reach, it is perhaps important to reflect that the festival’s foundational core remains the artists and the community – both the cement and asphalt one in which their works live and breathe as well as the one that coalesces around their collective creations. Santurce was and is the cradle of Puerto Rico’s street art scene, with works at nearly every turn that shed light and provide insight on what Puerto Rico is and what it is to be Puerto Rican as interpreted by a cadre of top-notch creators.

With that in mind, BIENVENIDOS spoke with some of the muralists who have taken part in Santurce es Ley about their pathways into street art, their work and more.

Sofia Maldonado 

Developing a sensibility for art at a very young age, Maldonado dove into the study of painting and ceramics at La Central High School, a public arts school in Santurce that was also her launching pad into murals. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from the Escuela de Artes Plasticas before pursuing a master of fine arts degree from Pratt Institute, the renowned art school in New York City, and embarked on a thriving, diversified career that has seen her design the poster for the 2020 Latin Grammy Awards, teach budding artists at her alma mater and the University of Puerto Rico, study pre-Colombian painting techniques as an artist-in-residence in Puebla, Mexico and exhibit her works at prestigious events including the Whitney Biennale.

Maldonado made clear she was deeply shaped by her time as a high school student and subsequent studies in New York City, where her thesis professor expanded her perspective on studio practice by encouraging her to mix the street with academia. It was at La Central High School – surrounded by creative classmates including graffiti writers, painters, and musicians – that her journey to murals began in earnest, according to the artist, who noted that stretches of Santurce were marked by unused buildings in the early 2000s.

“Imagine a big playground for creative kids in search of self-expression,” Maldonado said, recalling that she painted with leftover house paint picked in those early days. “Five bucks a gallon! Plus, they had dope colors,” she said.

Maldonado’s early focus was painting organic designs covering the dilapidated walls and abandoned structures. “The concept was no backdrop color. The architecture – and its imperfections – was my background,” she said, adding that because many of her murals were put up guerilla-style in those days she essentially painted in anonymity under the tagline “Sofia” for several years.  One of Maldonado’s first wrap-around building murals was on La Torre building in Rio Piedras, a gathering place for poets and philosophers in the 1960s.

The multifaceted artist has also focused on painting female figures, which were initially characters inspired by women with an autobiographical aspect. “Reflecting back, they could have been the many women that inhabit me, ancestors, and personalities. Nowadays, with a deeper understanding of myself, all those characters were a crucial part of my journey into self-discovery, and layer shredding in order to evolve into the woman I am today,” Maldonado said.

Maldonado’s multi-track career finally landed her at Santurce es Ley for the 2023 edition. “The Santurce es Ley team has done a beautiful job of inviting local and international artists to paint murals in Puerto Rico,” Maldonado said “I recognize the impact that these types of festivals have on local communities, therefore it has been an honor to be able to share my perspective of street art from a much mature state. I’ve been painting murals for 20 years – color abstraction is a visual respite within a society loaded with images and stimuli.” Her mural for the festival included the planting of roughly a dozen plant varieties “with an aggressive character in their survival” because the sun hits the mural site very hard. “The experience of sharing this concern – is an essential part of my public art project. My artistic language is diverse, acknowledges its surroundings and respects the divine order of Mother Earth,” according to Maldonado.

Outside of Santurce, Maldonado recommended mural hunting in the Hato Rey and Rio Piedras areas of San Juan as well as the Instituto de Subcultura, an exhibition space by the founders of Santurce es Ley, and The Spot, an urban art gallery and residency on the capital city’s Loiza Street. “Puerto Rico is a very creative place; each municipality has its own artistic charm. I encourage you to venture outside the metro area,” Maldonado urged.

Juan Gutierrez 

San Juan-native Juan Gutierrez found his way into the art world in far-flung places but right within reach of his fingertips.

“As a young kid I loved the photographs in National Geographic. They allowed me to travel without leaving home and got me thinking about what I was seeing from a young age,” Gutierrez said, adding that he’s an avid collector of magazines to this day.

In both his murals and smaller scale works, the 43-year-old is known for graphic and colorful works that have included insightful departures from classic images. Take for example his celebrated two-story tall, masked cowboy whose six-shooter unloads a volley of hearts from the wall of an Urban Train station in Bayamon, a booming metropolitan area city that itself is emerging as an important center for the arts in Puerto Rico.

Gutierrez said he was drawn to murals as an architecture student early in the street art movement boom as the elusive Banksy began making waves around the world. “I decided to ride that wave,” he said. “Also, I was studying architecture and was looking at the city with new eyes. I suddenly saw the city walls as blank pages to share and communicate my ideas.”

Close to home in the capital city, Gutierrez said his participation in Santurce es Ley has always been a fulfilling and enriching experience that represents positive momentum directly or indirectly for everyone creating art in Puerto Rico. 

Looking out across the island, the literal and virtual traveler sees a surging muralist movement that is marked by its quality, variety, and evolution. “The talent, much like in music and sports, is world class. And you know where there is strong competition there will probably be a great product, in this case amazing mural art,” he said.

Gutierrez pointed fellow travelers to muralist strongholds including Calle Loiza in the San Juan tourist zone, the southeast coastal town of Humacao, and the southwest coastal town of Yauco, where street art is brewing against the backdrop of a rich coffee-growing tradition. 

The die-hard National Geographic fan urged people to poke around a bit. “Because you will probably find murals in almost every pueblo around the island.”

Patricia Esperanza

Santurce-native Patricia Esperanza made an unexpected leap toward becoming an artist in her mid-20s when a Play Dough figurine she made caught the eye of a co-worker at the San Juan advertising agency where she worked as an event and promotion executive. Within a year, she was painting murals and, on the way, to earning a second degree in fine arts at the Escuela de Artes Plasticas y Diseño de Puerto Rico to add to a degree in communications and marketing from Sagrado Corazon University.

Studying color theory at the Escuela de Artes Plasticas y Diseño de Puerto Rico was pivotal to her journey into and path within a career as a professional artist and art teacher. “That class sparked my fascination with color and motivated me to bring life and movement to otherwise plain, uninteresting spaces. As an artist, I’m on a constant quest to find beauty in the simple and transform it,” she said.

Abstract and optical in style, the works of the 37-year-old artist, whose mother is from Ponce and father is from Chile, often revolve around themes of intense color, motion, and transformation. “I love to use bold, dynamic color, abstract designs to breathe life into spaces that were once mundane and unadorned,” the muralist, ceramist and educator said.

Patricia Esperanza sees Santurce es Ley as an “incredible platform” for artists in Puerto Rico. “For me, it represents a celebration of artistic expression and a chance to connect with a vibrant community of creators. My experience as a participating artist has been enriching, and it has allowed me to reach a broader audience,” she said.

“Puerto Rico boasts a wealth of talented muralists,” Patricia Esperanza continued. “The art of mural painting has gained recognition, and our island is becoming known for its vibrant street art scene. Many artists are using this medium to tell powerful stories and share their creative perspectives.”

In addition to Santurce, Patricia Esperanza urged mural-seekers to explore other areas including Rio Piedras, Bayamon, Ponce, Yauco, the offshore island town of Culebra, and many other pueblos. “These areas provide a wonderful opportunity to witness the diversity of artistic work being done on the island,” she said.

“Art has the incredible power to transform spaces and uplift communities,” Patricia Esperanza said. “I believe that as an artist, my purpose is to contribute to the beauty of the world and inspire others to see the extraordinary in the everyday. Art has a unique way of connecting people and transcending boundaries, and I’m grateful to be part of this creative journey.”

Guanina Cotto

The first steps into art came early and organically for Guanina Cotto, a 30-year-old from the northwest coast town of Aguadilla who credits her artist mother for encouraging her to study and practice her budding interest from a very young age. 

Over time, Cotto’s often autobiographical work has been marked by personal and sociopolitical themes ranging from the erotic to exploration of what it is to be a woman of the Caribbean.

Cotto embraces her role as a creator against the backdrop of Santurce es Ley, a gathering she champions as a community event where the art is readily accessible to all who pass through. “I loved the experience,” she said.

The artist posits that while Puerto Rico is home to a lot of talent in general, the economic, social political and political pressures of living and working on an island with an unresolved colonial status presents challenges – and provides inspiration – that can soak into the concrete walls that serve as soaring canvases for Cotto and her fellow muralists. 

“I think many of us take those obstacles and disadvantages and transform them into art,” she said.

While Santurce is clearly the cradle and continued hotbed for the art form in Puerto Rico, Cotto noted that quality works can be found in urban centers across many of the island’s 78 municipalities, or pueblos, and pointed aficionados to the western region towns of Lares and Yauco.