Street artists create massive mural

(1 Aug 2015) A community project in the central Mexican city of Pachuca has turned a working-class neighbourhood into huge rainbow mural.
Artists have spent the last 14 months turning the hillside neighbourhood of Las Palmitas into a giant, colourful mural in an effort to bring people together and change its gritty image.
Enrique Gomez, the project's director, said on Thursday the initiative was an "answer to social integration, participation and community cohesion."
The individually painted houses combine to form a cohesive swirly rainbow design, with bright stripes that begin on one wall and that run across several homes before swooping into graceful circles.
Before the makeover, Gomez said Las Palmitas was a bad area where people avoided going out after dark or interacting with each other.
Residents like Alfonso Reyes say there is a new air in the neighbourhood.
"It's very pretty. You go out and say, 'Ah!' Everything is so nicely painted and fixed up."
The project, which is financed by local government, began with persuading homeowners to let their homes be painted, followed by a whitewashing of each building to symbolise that all the residents are equal.
The project, which is in its final stage, consists of 1,500 square metres (16,000 square feet) of individual murals.

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