When artists joined hands with residents of a low-income community in Pachuca, Mexico a little over a year ago to create a giant mural, the result was electrifying. The working class neighborhood of Las Palmitas, a place where crime was rampant and residents rarely mingled, was transformed by art.
It was a clear-cut illustration of what "The Tipping Point" author Malcolm Gladwell once described as little elements in the environment serving as tipping point. When Project Director Enrique Gomez actualized the goal to promote neighborhood integration and alter the negative, gritty image of the hillside community of Las Palmitas, little did he realize that he would be turning the dwellers' defeatism upside down.
Las Palmitas used to be a rough place where people refrained from going out at night owing to security concerns; they also avoided social interaction, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. Gomez himself used to be gang member who had channeled his energies to graffiti art and mural painting.
During the later phase of the project, which entailed that residents team up with muralists known as Germ Collective to paint 200 homes with perky colors with a swirly design, kids and adults conversed with each other more and started hanging out more often in the public areas.
What used to be mostly drab cement and a somber neighborhood changed into a brighter, friendlier community, underscoring the fact that context matters. Viewed at a distance, the painted houses collectively create "a cohesive, if abstract, swirly rainbow design," The Guardian reported.
The visually appealing art runs across the numerous homes, as if reflecting the metamorphosis that has taken place. Gomez and the residents marvel at how the camaraderie spawned by the project had created a big impact.