Santurce es Ley

Editor’s note: The following originally appeared in the Jan. 31 – Feb. 6, 2019, issue of Caribbean Business.

Public art has been emerging for years in various urban areas of Puerto Rico. It is especially manifest in San Juan, in the Santurce and Río Piedras districts. Various pieces have been created by recognized artists and others by emerging artists who focus on the artistic specialization of the moment.

It is known that in other cities, such as Los Angeles and Berlin, works of this nature stand out and are well-received as an urban artistic example of the times.

Multiple books on this type of art have been published, where its importance among several other traditional forms is already recognized. In Puerto Rico, there were times when graffiti was rejected as a valuable artistic process and has sometimes been destroyed or vandalized. We still see this attack on public art when more daring visuals are exhibited.

However, of note is that as a result of the establishment of Santurce es Ley, public art has been promulgated as a banner of contemporary and Puerto Rican art. By visiting the area around Cerra Street in Santurce, one can enjoy remarkable artistic variety that is well-executed, with phenomenal creativity—an artistic example that compares with the best in the world.

We are publishing photos by Augusto Ferrer of some of these works for our readers to enjoy. Surely, they will find that they are magnificent and Santurce es Ley deserves public support, which can continue the effort to spread the word about our public art.

There are those who suggest this area of Santurce should be recognized as a potential tourism focus, as is the case in several other cities, and an effort to improve the area’s infrastructure should be carried out. There are valid reasons to establish Santurce as an art enclave that is focused on internationally.

We invite you to walk the streets around Calle Cerra for a close-up experience of what artists, both Puerto Rican and guests from abroad, have to offer.

Photos by Augusto Ferrer: 

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