Street Art in SEVILLE: Arte Para Todos in the San Pablo District

Seville is one of those many Spanish cities where you can spend days just walking around. Squeezing through picturesque cobblestone alleys, enjoying tapas, bloodred wine, and passionate Flamenco. Visiting the Cathedral, the Alcazar, and the Plaza de España.
But apart from the many world-famous landmarks, Seville has some less glorious barrios located on the outskirts.
One of them is San Pablo located northeast of the center.
Instead of magnificent Andalusian and Moorish architecture, you’ll walk between rather sad housing projects. Nevertheless, I’m sure you’ll enjoy your stroll through San Pablo since it’s also home to the art project Arte Para Todos and therewith to the best street art in all of Seville.

Street Art in Seville

The phenomenon of street art, hence, of writing, drawing, and painting on walls is not a modern thing. As a matter of fact, it goes way back to the cavemen, to the era of the Pyramids in Giza, as well as the Roman Empire.

However, in many cities around the world, the modern-day graffiti movement started in the 1960s as a claim of urban territory by gangs but also as a response to political and social injustice. Graffiti developed from the so-called tagging, hence writing names’n’slogans in a more or less artsy way, to painting of beautiful murals that transform neighborhoods in open air-galleries.

As in many other cities, too, in Seville, urban art was also used to upgrade rather dull neighborhoods. And this is where the project Arte Para Todos comes in.

Arte Para Todos – Art For Everyone

The Arte Para Todos project was intended to bring a higher quality of life into marginalized areas of the city. Maybe even turning them into an attraction far from the touristy historic center. From several suburban neighborhoods that were considered for the project, in the end, the Polígono San Pablo was chosen.

Promoted by the Institute of Culture and the Arts of Seville and with the support of various companies and institutions, international artists from mainly Spanish-speaking countries converted the working-class neighborhood on the northeastern outskirts of the city into an attraction also for visitors from out of town who are fond of urban art. Apart from large-scale murals on slightly deteriorated façades, 30 sculptures by well-known contemporary artists embellish the neighborhood and make it a very special open-air gallery.

The Artists

About 40 artists from 24 countries contributed murals and sculptures. This way, they transformed San Pablo into one of the largest open-air museums in Europe.

The very fact that their seedy and somewhat forgotten neighborhood was worthy of a makeover by internationally renowned artists sends a strong signal to San Pablo’s residents. In addition, many of the projects focus on problems of global living space such as water shortages, like for instance Francisco Munguía’s mural Agua Para Todos, hence, Water for Everyone, but also on other environmental problems. Others, like Lalone, emphasize urban coexistence and affirm the importance of schooling for children, especially in this somewhat underprivileged neighborhood.

Below, I’m introducing some of the best artists that contributed to this outstanding project in alphabetic order. On the map at the end of this post, you’ll find the exact spots where their murals are located.

Victor Ash

Victor Ash aka Ash was born in Paris in 1968. Today, he resides in Copenhagen. He began his artistic career as a graffiti writer in the early 1980s. He was part of the Parisian graffiti collective BBC or Badbc.

In 1989, French fashion designer Agnès b. invited Ash, JonOne, and several other graffiti artists to participate in the exhibition Les Peintres de la Ville, hence, City Painters in English. It took place at the Galerie du Jour in the hip’n’trendy neighborhood of Centre National d’Art et de Culture Georges-Pompidou. Actually, this was the first time Ash presented his paintings inside a gallery.

To this date, Ash has left his traces in various cities around the world. Especially the murals he created in the German capital Berlin made him a street art legend. I introduced him already in my street art in Copenhagen and the street art section of my post on Puerto de la Cruz.

Lalo Luque aka Lalone

Lalone is an urban artist from Málaga. He entered the world of graffiti in 1998 and quickly developed his own iconic style.

In 2004, Lalone studied Graphic Design and Illustration at the San Telmo School of Art in Málaga. After he was employed at various companies, he began to work as a professional muralist in 2008. Since then, he participated in numerous competitions and contests in Spain where he decorated all kinds of public and private spaces.

In his murals, Lalone combines realistic elements with imaginary elements. Using mainly spray paint, he expresses his personal feelings and depicts topics like social issues.

Luis Alberto López Cruz

Luis Alberto López Cruz was born in Perú in 1970 where he studied Plastic Arts at the Superior School of Fine Arts in Trujillo. Two years after his graduation, he moved to Chile in 1996.

López Cruz was often commissioned to create murals. To no surprise, he won numerous art awards.

In his work, the artist embraces the abundant artistic legacy of the aboriginal past of his home country Perú. He composes beautiful images of real and fantastic creatures in front of enigmatic backgrounds. You can clearly see the academic training in the high quality of his paintings.

Francisco Munguía Villalta

Francisco Munguía Villalta was born in Costa Rica in 1976. The highly talented artist died far too young in 2000.

As an artist, Munguía Villalta believed in the transformative power of art. He created an iconographic universe of comic strips that he depicted on ceramics and paintings, obviously. Not only did his murals change the urban appearance, but they also created and enforced a great sense of community. Despite his great social and political commitment, Francisco Munguía Villalta never lacked wit and humor in his portrayals.

Caleb Neelon

Caleb Neelon is an artist and writer based in the US State of Massachusetts. In 1990, during a visit to Germany, he saw the infamous Berlin Wall, covered in graffiti and murals. This opened up a hitherto unknown creative power in him. Hence, Neelon entered the world of graffiti by the name of SONIK.  In his creations around the world, he developed a very unique style of mixed media by crossing the boundaries between graffiti, murals, and other urban art.

Today, Caleb Neelon looks back at a wide range of creations as well as curatorial activities. Apart from galleries and museums, he’s taking his art projects to schools, libraries, and even hospitals.

Since he began to write articles for graffiti fanzines already as a teenager, Neelon has published more than two dozen books, oftentimes in collaboration with other artists’n’authors. His most iconic book is probably The History of American Graffiti which was published by HarperCollins in 2010.

El Niño de las Pinturas

Raúl Ruiz aka El niño de las Pinturas was born in Madrid but grew up in Granada where he still resides.

The streets are his canvas where he interprets phrases or poems in his iconic style. The center of his work are mainly children and adolescents. He depicts their facial expressions of impudence, fear, astonishment, or sadness. Therefore, his murals are not just trendy graffiti. They are captivating and deeply touching street art.

In the neighborhood of Realejo in his hometown Granada, his works are cherished as an important part of the local culture. They deal with social issues mainly concerning children and the elderly, but also local traditions like Flamenco.

Yet, El niño de las Pinturas also left his artistic mark in the streets of Argentina, Belgium, France, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Venezuela, to name just the most important places.

Apart from his mural in the district of San Pablo, El niño de las Pinturas was commissioned to paint the façade of the bus station at the Plaza de Armas. Today, the painting of a sleeping boy is probably Seville’s most famous mural. Although the work is officially protected, some mindless scrawlers have smeared their stupid tags over it.

Also, Ruiz has published a compilation of his best pieces in his book Through the Wall.

I’ve introduced some of his work in the post Guide to PUERTO DE LA CRUZ – a Town Full of Contrasts.

Cristina Salas

Cristina Salas was born in Ecuador’s capital Quito. Before settling down in Brooklyn, the self-proclaimed global citizen with Ecuadorian roots used to live in France, Italy, Spain, and Mexico.

She’s a multimedia artist and enjoys the many possibilities when working with different media. Her depiction of the flora and fauna combines the environment with surrealism’n’symbolism.

Salas enjoys improving neighborhoods so that communities get a deeper connection with their living spaces.

Nena Sánchez

Nena Sanchez was born in Curaçao in 1943. Already at the age of 18, she participated in an art contest organized by the Department for Culture and Art. The twelve best paintings – among them Nena’s portrait of an old man – were exhibited in Mexico and the Caribbean.

In 1966, Nena Sanchez was elected Miss Curaçao. Henceforth, she represented the island at various international events. After 25 years abroad, she moved back to Curaçao where she began experimenting as a self-taught artist with different materials such as canvas, paper, and wood. In her works, she depicted flowers, fruits, wildlife, and people of Caribbean sceneries in bright colors.

Sadly, the artist passed away in 2017.

To this date, you’ll find two galleries on the island of Curaçao that the artist opened before her death. Also, I have introduced Nena Sanchez in my posts CURACAO – The Caribbean Island That Has It All and Murals in CURACAO: The Best Street Art Projects in Willemstad

Joshua Sarantitis

Joshua Sarantitis was born in New York State in 1969. He’s working as a professional artist and has painted murals in public spaces for over 20 years. However, his work includes also glass installations and mosaic murals. You’ll find them all over the USA.

Sarantitis’ life experience and his great sensitivity towards architecture are clearly reflected in his paintings. Yet, he also aims to incorporate social aspects into his works. He collaborates successfully with designers, administrators, as well as communities.

In 2011, Joshua Sarantitis completed a glass ceiling installation for Harvard Business School. It is called Harvard Ripples and consists of 400 pieces. Another amazing work is a large-scale project he made for the city of Philadelphia. In the piece titled Legacy, Sarantitis assembles glass tiles into a photorealistic mosaic on more than 370 square meters.

Finally, he designed a bridge in Tucson where Plasma-cut steel elements and illuminated columns are celebrating the legacy of Cesar Chavez who founded the organization United Farm Workers.

Carin Steen

Carin Steen was born and raised in Amsterdam. Since 1997, she resides in Honduras. There, she founded Copán Pinta, a cultural association that offers courses in various art genres for children and adolescents in the Copán area. In 2014, Steen relocated to Guatemala where she also initiated a community art project called MuralArte Guate to create collaborative murals in public spaces.

After she moved back to Europe, she found a new home in northern Spain. But since she never got over Central America, she now divides her time between Spain and Guatemala. Carin paints murals and offers art classes.

Sergio Vergara Arteaga

Sergio Vergara Arteaga’s career as an artist began when he created paintings for his daughter Catalina’s room. He simply wasn’t able to find the motifs he wanted for her walls, hence, he produced a series of pictures. When he had his paintings framed, they were spotted by a gallery owner who right away commissioned 100 small-format pieces.
A star was born.

Today, Vergara Arteaga is an agronomist by profession and an artist by vocation. Sponsored by UNICEF, he created a Children’s Mural in Plaza de la Constitución in Santiago de Chile. It is the longest in all of Latin America.
His style is rooted in naive art and surrealism.

However, he doesn’t put his poetry only in painting but also in words. As a poet, Sergio Vergara Arteaga has published five books with poems.

Veronica Werckmeister

Veronica Werckmeister was born in Los Angeles in 1972. In 1993, she began her work in public muralism as an intern for the Social and Public Art Resource Center, in short SPARC, in Venice Beach. Since then, she has decorated walls in public and private spaces all around the USA and also in Spain.

For the Arte Para Todos project, Werckmeister created a Sevillian flamenco dancer. The portrait is flanked by two text fragments. One is from the powerful poem Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou and reads:
Now you understand
Just why my head’s not bowed.
It’s in the click of my heels,   
the bend of my hair,   
the palm of my hand,   
the need for my care.   
’Cause I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

The other one is an excerpt from the Spanish song Ella – which translates to She – by Bebe: Today you’re going to look forward,
backward already hurt you enough.
A brave woman,
a smiling woman,
look how it happens.
Today the perfect woman they were waiting for was born.
She has shamelessly broken the established rules.
Today she has worn heels to make her steps audible.

Katie Yamasaki

Katie Yamasaki holds a Master of Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. For many years, she worked as a teacher of Spanish and Art. Currently, she is teaching at the Center for Fiction in Brooklyn where she also resides.

As a muralist, Yamasaki has created more than 80 pieces around the world. Oftentimes, she has been working with local communities, focusing on their specific issues. Yamasaki has worked with incarcerated mothers at Rikers Island, with elderly members of the Japanese American National Museum, and at hospitals and schools.

Also, Katie Yamasaki writes and illustrates books for children that oftentimes deal with social issues and the traumatic past of the Japanese community during WWII.

On Instagram

Unfortunately, I cannot introduce all the great artists that are embellishing the façades of Seville’s district of San Pablo. And even those few I’m presenting above have created many more amazing pieces.

So if you want to dig deeper into the subject – or get inspired for your upcoming trip to Seville – check out these accounts of the above-featured artists:

How to Get Around

While most of the landmarks in the center can be easily reached on foot, the Polígono San Pablo is about five kilometers northeast of the city center.

However, like most European metropoles, Seville has a comprehensive, well-functioning network of public transportation, and various buses like for instance #21 and #28 are taking you to San Pablo in under half an hour.

Public transportation is quite cheap in Seville. While a normal trip costs 1.40 €uros, you can buy ten trip passes for only 6.90 €uros at kiosks. With a transfer option, they set you back 7.60 €uros. There is a reimbursable deposit of 1.50 €uros on all passes. Also, tourists can obtain day passes for as little as 5 €uros for one day and 10 €uros for 3 days.

A fast way to get around the city center is by cycling, and you can also get from the city center to San Pablo by bicycle in about twenty minutes.

There are rental bikes operated by the bus company SEVici. You can rent them at many stations around the city center. You need to buy a ticket for a week for 13,33 €uros – or an annual ticket if you plan to stay in Seville for a longer time. In any case, there will be a security deposit of 150 €uros charged to your credit card. Then, you can use the bike for up to 30 minutes at no additional cost. After these 30 minutes are over, you pay 1,03 €uro for the first hour and 2,04 €uros for every additional hour. These fees are cheaper with the annual pass.

Map

This map should help you to find the murals I’m introducing in this post. Clicking on the slider symbol at the top left or the full-screen icon at the top right will display the whole map including the legend.

Visiting this amazing Street Art Project was only one of many fun activities on my visit to Seville. To read about the rest, go to this comprehensive guide where you’ll find further valuable information that will make your own trip much smoother and more enjoyable.

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