Project · Public art

Aruba Mural Festival

Every year new walls in San Nicolas are painted by artists from Aruba and abroad.

Why I started it

In 2015 I saw a wall in Bogotá painted with a boy playing a trumpet under the words “Art for Life”. I came home, invited artists and asked my neighbours for their walls.

What it is

The Mural Festival opens Art Week. Artists paint new murals on walls offered by neighbours and businesses, and the walls stay.

Over the years the town has become an open-air gallery that people come to see all year, which is what Forbes noticed in 2019.

Started2016
TypePublic art
WhereSan Nicolas, Aruba

Impact

What it brings

80+permanent murals
10–15new walls every year
11countries the artists come from
2019Forbes: Street Art Capital of the Caribbean

Milestones

Along the way

  • 2015A wall in Bogotá: “Art for Life”
  • 2016First Mural Festival
  • 2019Forbes names San Nicolas the Street Art Capital of the Caribbean
  • 20268th edition, 1–13 September
  • 2026First Aruban mural in the United States, painted in Miami by Rasheed Lowe

What’s next

Next

The next edition opens Art Week Aruba in September 2027.

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