It takes pride and passion to create a city as vibrant and colorful as Oaxaca de Juarez. It seems everyone here is both an artist and an activist, adept at expressing complex thoughts and emotions through music, murals, and inked block prints. Free print presses, art spaces and workshops are open to the community. There are no blank walls; only temporarily bare canvases awaiting an artist. This post is heavy on photos - ‘cause it’s Oaxaca and every step is a visual delight begging for interpretation.

Click any photo for a larger slideshow…

The town has a color pallet council to maintain aesthetics; building owners in the old town area must request guidance when painting exterior walls, trim and fences. No different than most Homeowners Association guidelines in America — except here the pallet is vibrant; bold; alive. Why are modern design codes in America so muted; so boring??

There is a lot going on in the murals beyond their Instagram appeal, with themes expressing historical events (“never forget”), indigenous heritage, political opinions, lofty desires (a healthy planet, equality, justice, liberty…). There’s a fiercely defended freedom of (unspoken, graphically illustrated) speech in Oaxaca. And then some murals are just random artistic fun. Murals let the viewer decide.

I usually think of communication as talking or as sentences on a page — maybe because I prefer words; I “think” in words and express myself by writing. Mathematicians think and express themselves using numeric patterns. Our schools emphasize Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic. But many people are inherently better skilled at expressing emotions, opinions, desires and ideas through music, graphical illustration, colors, design, dance, or other forms of non-verbal, non-numeric expression. A picture speaks a thousand words; colors and music affect mood. It is important to foster the abilities creative people have to express themselves beyond words and numbers.

Although I am not an artist — because I am not an artist — I will always be a champion of the arts. I want to “hear” what creative people have to say through the art they produce. I do not want to live in a black and white world dominated by incessant verbal discourse and rational numeric efficiency.