Río Piedras’ Paseo de Diego to get $60K artistic makeover
The San Juan municipal government unveiled over the weekend a $60,000 initiative to give the iconic Paseo de Diego in the Río Piedras urban center an artistic makeover consisting of murals and sculptures created by local artists.
San Juan Mayor Miguel Romero called the Paseo del Arte, Río Piedras project an economic and cultural development initiative through which the municipal administration intends to revitalize the historic Paseo de Diego, which has been in a state of abandonment for decades.
Paseo del Arte, Río Piedras consists of the establishment of a museum of large-scale, open-air works of art, improving the area’s environment and infrastructure, to attract new businesses and promote tourist activity, he said.
In a first phase, the project will serve to clean and beautify the Paseo de Diego, he added.
“This is a commitment that I have with the people of San Juan to revitalize a crucial area of impact for everyone, including the University of Puerto Rico, the Urban Train and the emblematic Plaza de Mercado, main axes of the economic activity of Río Piedras,” said Romero.
“Although Paseo de Diego was for years the heart of San Juan’s economy given the diversity of its commercial and cultural offer for everyone, including students, it is now desolate and abandoned. With this proposal we promote the economy, culture and support our artists,” said Romero.
The Paseo del Arte, Río Piedras initiative will be led by Alexis Bousquet, the creator of Santurce es Ley, and will bring together the best urban artists in Puerto Rico to create murals and public sculptures and turn the area into an open-air museum full of big-scale images from Plaza Robles to the entrance of Paseo de Diego. Ten rolling doors will be turned into murals.
In its second and third phase of development, the initiative will include the planting of fruit trees and the creation of large-scale murals on the faces of abandoned buildings among other elements.
