Image above: Contemporary visual
artist Cristina Martinez works on MexArt mural.
Visitors to the MexAm Northwest Festival 2025 will have the opportunity to witness a display of public art.
As part of the
festival, the 10 artists of the MexArt Mural Project will be creating murals live, allowing audiences to watch them at work. The event opened Sept. 15 at Condon Hall, part of
Seattle’s university corridor, and will continue through Sept. 21. Part of Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s “Many Hands” initiative, the project was a collaboration with the
Consulate of México in Seattle.
“In 2024 the City of Seattle set out to transform a corridor long associated with vandalism into a beautified space through art, in
partnership with the Consulate of Mexico and many artists,” Karla Nahmmacher, cultural affairs liaison at the Consulate of Mexico in Seattle, told Marketing Daily. “This
year’s theme, ‘Migration and Belonging,’ feels especially urgent in a moment when stories of migration are too often politicized or erased.”
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She adds, “These
murals offer a living canvas for narratives of resilience, identity, and home. They are bold statements of presence, reminders that our communities shape and transform the character of this city, and
proof that art has the power to heal, connect, and spark dialogue.”
Each of the artists involved in the project is a Mexican or Mexican-American artist based in Washington. The selection
process was led by the City of Seattle's Graffiti Interdepartmental Team, in collaboration with local artists, a process which “allowed the artists themselves to play a key role in choosing
their collaborators, creating an organic network of creatives who were eager to work together,” Nahmmacher explained.
Participating artists include Jake Prendez, a Chicano artist, public
speaker, and co-director of the Nepantla Cultural Arts Gallery in Seattle; Víctor Meléndez, a Seattle-based muralist, designer, and illustrator originally from Mexico City, also an
accomplished art director who has created work for clients including Pepsi, Starbucks, and Target; and Cristina Martinez, whose most recent work is a 52-foot mural at 3 World Trade Center called
“To The Ones Who Remain Unbroken.”
The MexArt Mural Project will live on long past the completion of the works, with plans for the murals to stay up for two years. Functioning as
an “open air gallery,” the works will transform a “busy urban corridor into a space for reflection and cultural connection,” Nahmmacher said, “offering a daily
reminder of the creativity and resilience within our communities.”