Young people promote unity and hope through a mural in Guaynabo

The incarceration caused by the COVID-19 pandemic forced us to turn digital methodologies into our everyday reality. The virtual age became the way to communicate, interact socially and rediscover other facets that invite us to work collectively.

At least that’s how a group of young college students living in Guaynabo and San Juan see it, who left their homes to transform the creation of digital art into a massive mural that recreates the union of a people through hope.

The university students María Mercedes Arias, Daniel Torres and Grace Batista finished yesterday a 14 feet high and 30 meters long mural on the PR-8834 highway in the Barrio Camarones in Guaynabo that aims to inspire and delight those traveling through the area. Entitled “Hands of Hope”, the artists transformed an austere wall supporting a bridge into an explosion of color that beautifies the town. They worked on the street artwork for four consecutive days.

Different shapes of hands representing the child, the woman and the man wanting to touch, hug and reunite, give life to the mural that emerged in a digital sketch that the three young people worked from their home with the idea of ​​creating a To redesign other art that Mercedes Arias had occurred in the past.

However, when they started working on it under a concept of different hands, the group dared to look for another space to create the new artistic work with the aim of capturing a trail of optimism in society.

With the help of the Guaynabo Municipality, which identified and supported the area with painting materials, brushes and scaffolding, the three youths, along with other artists and volunteers, took over the area to bring the message of unity in the midst of all the adversity.

“We wanted to redesign a mural that I had made for a long time. It was a collaborative effort and we wanted something we could all add to our design styles. The way to do it was to form hands that together mean the unification of society and separated also have meaning. It’s an ironic way that we were able to leave our homes through a digital medium that we made with our fists and brought us to this artistic expression, ” said Mercedes Arias, who previously worked on a mural at the Martínez Nadal Express and another at the time. she studied at a school in Guaynabo.

In his case, painting has always been present in his life from an early age and although he is currently studying journalism at the University of Washington, he devotes time to developing the expression of art. Therefore, for her and for young Grace Batista, who studies illustration and joined the project in her first mural, the work was an escape from pre-pandemic feelings.

“This was also a kind of escape from everything that has happened in recent months. The idea of ​​doing something productive during this time was important to the three of us, and after that, working from our closed homes was very satisfying. We’ve had good vibes to be able to do this job all together. For me it’s enough that people see it and make them happy, ”explains Mercedes Arias.

“Although this is my first mural, I have always seen art as a way to make people happy without them noticing. Everyone passing through this area is slowing down to see what we’re doing and I feel it’s a way to get across a positive message when they see them laughing in the middle of such a chaotic year, ”said Batista.