Nature has provided Puerto de la Cruz with exceptional geographic and climate conditions. In addition to its mild climate, the gentle terrain makes it the ideal place for doing outdoor activities. Its streets are a “communal room”, where residents and tourists can enjoy the city´s many charms.
By making the most of the city´s cultural baggage and innovative character, Puerto Street Art reflects on the “museum” concept. Are museums a closed space? The answer is NO. Let´s make the most of walls lacking any content, and perhaps also the repetitive street paving and street furniture, or perhaps green spaces….Let´s make the city a museum in itself, where artists from different genres leave their art behind for the enjoyment of everyone.
Mural art on dividing walls. A pilot experience
In 2014 the Town Planning Consortium for the Rehabilitation of Puerto de la Cruz, along with the Department of Culture and the Department of Planning of the Council of Puerto de la Cruz, supported the “Puerto Street Art” Pilot Project for the Improvement of the Urban Environment through Artistic Interventions, thus taking the first steps towards the creation of an urban art museum.
The interventions on façades in the neighbourhood of La Ranilla were carried out in three phases, coinciding with the celebration of other big cultural events supported by the Council of Puerto de la Cruz: MUECA Festival and PERIPLO Festival. At present, Puerto de la Cruz has more than fifteen first-rate mural works, produced by internationally renowned artists.
On the basis of the above, slightly moving away from the initial town planning objective of improving dividing walls, the redefinition of the Puerto Street Art project is now being addressed, broadening its vision, in order to make the city a multidisciplinary outdoor museum.