From her small tin-sided shop near San Salvador, seamstress Esmeralda Quintanilla watches as artists transform the walls of her neighborhood, Zacamil, with vibrant murals. Once scarred by the violence of El Salvador’s civil war and decades of gang conflict, the Mejicanos district is now seeing its streets adorned with colorful artwork, bringing a new sense of pride and hope to residents.
Quintanilla, 55, has lived in Zacamil for nearly half her life. “With the murals, everything looks really nice,” she says, her shop situated in the midst of this large-scale art project. “You start to see all this and it gives the place a different image. I feel really happy, proud.”
The initiative, led by a Salvadoran foundation, seeks to fill the neighborhood with stories-high murals over the next two years. So far, a dozen murals have been completed, featuring diverse themes such as Mesoamerican pyramids, pixelated depictions of the Virgin Mary, and abstract pieces from the artists’ imaginations. The project aims to cover nearly every wall in the Zacamil housing complex, home to around 4,000 residents.
Zacamil has long been associated with violence, but the situation began to change two years ago when President Nayib Bukele launched a nationwide crackdown on gangs. The state of emergency that followed has resulted in the imprisonment of nearly 82,000 alleged gang members. While this has brought relative peace to the once-dangerous area, the initiative has also drawn criticism from human rights groups over reported abuses. Despite this, residents like Quintanilla are embracing the transformation brought by the murals.
Even with the vibrant artwork giving the neighborhood a visual facelift, many challenges remain. Garbage piles up in the streets, storm drains are clogged, and visible signs of poverty persist, including clotheslines hanging from windows and power cables crisscrossing the buildings. However, residents, many of whom fled during the intense violence of the Salvadoran civil war and returned to homes damaged by both conflict and earthquakes, appreciate the sense of renewal.
“There are always problems, but this is giving the neighborhood a facelift,” commented a 70-year-old resident who preferred to remain anonymous.
Zacamil’s history is deeply rooted in the country’s civil war, which raged from 1979 to 1992 and claimed over 75,000 lives. The murals represent more than just art; they stand as a testament to the resilience of a community scarred by war and violence, now moving toward a brighter, more hopeful future.
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