Urban art: a vehicle for urban and social transformation.

The involvement of major cities in urban art is a phenomenon that continues to grow. Whether giant murals, monumental sculptures or ephemeral installations, art is a cultural marker and a tool for social cohesion. These works can have an impact on their environment! They remain a silent but imposing witness, both to history and to the re-enchanted identity of urban areas. Why is this so?

Because urban design is a driving force for revitalization.

The “Percent for the Art” program began in NYC in 1982: 1% of city-funded construction projects were to be allocated to a work of public art. Hundreds of artists from all backgrounds and media worked on works reflecting the diversity of the city and giving it an ever-changing face.

A case in point is the transformation of Bushwick in Brooklyn (photo opposite), once a declining industrial district, now a veritable open-air gallery tinged with a thousand colors thanks to initiatives such as the Bushwick Collective.

Because art bears witness to a cultural identity.

Mexico City’s murals, influenced by the politically committed Diego Rivera, and Banksy’s political messages, bear witness to the social struggles and ideals defended by the artists. In Barcelona, the architectural works of El Gaudi are enough to evoke the city’s aesthetic.

Because art brings social cohesion.

Programs like Mural Arts in Philadelphia are based on a participatory principle that involves local communities in the creation of works, like the Summer kaleidoscope created in 2015 in the center of the city. Social ties and a sense of belonging are at the heart of the subject. Art embodies the very identity of the neighborhood, becoming visible to all and freely accessible. It has the power to re-enchant urban centers, and to convey the uniqueness of a place and the identity of the communities that make it up.

Thanks to her chosen partners, Nathalie Chapuis intervenes in the public space using a variety of media (printed tarpaulins, painted works, reuse of raw materials, etc.) to reinvent the identity of the place through shapes and colors.