Street art has existed in Ponce, Puerto Rico, since at least the mid twentieth century. It received a boost from the Ponce municipal authorities in 2017 with the creation of the public-private partnership Ponce es Ley. Since then over four dozen works of art dot the city and, increasingly, the municipality. Street artists have prominently created murals in the Ponce Historic Zone as well as its adjacent areas and barrios.
One of the objectives of the Ponce es Ley urban festival event was “to create a ‘street museum’, where people wouldn't have to enter a hall to view works of art,” while also beautifying abandoned or unused buildings in Ponce’s historical streets. It has been said that there is street art in Ponce because ”street art is wed to the big cities, and that is Ponce[, a big city]” The city's street art has been termed “a street museum.” It envisioned a city as a destination for art lovers.
Another notable street art project took place in January 2018 at Callejón Trujillo and termed "Murales para Pensar" (Murals to Make You Think). Unlike the Ponce es Ley murals, which portrayed Ponce history, and cultural, musical and architectural themes, Murales para Pensar portrays political, social and economic themes.
History
Street art existed in Ponce even prior to 1960 when the now non-existent mural “La Abnegación” (Selflessness) was unveiled by Rafael Ríos Rey, Puerto Rico's first street muralist, at the location now (2020) occupied by the Instituto de Musica Juan Morel Campos. Rafael Ríos Rey's mosaic street art at La Abnegación was lost to the perils of over 50 years of Ponce weather and by 2016 a Puerto Rico PIP representative Denis Márquez Lebrón to present a bill in the Puerto Rico legislature to investigate its disrepair.
By early 2016 the Museo "Museo Abierto Playa Ponce" (Ponce Playa Open Museum) had also been created, exhibiting dozens or murals.
Ponce es Ley
In 2017, the Ponce es Ley idea materialized. The idea for the Ponce es Ley “festival of urban art” display came from Alexis Bousquet Rodríguez, (aka, Clandestino 797) an artist from Santurce, who started the concept in the San Juan neighborhood of Santurce. The success of the effort there motivated him to expand it to the other towns in Puerto Rico. His goal was a produce a network of street art that would cover all of Puerto Rico. His goal was to create an art network around Puerto Rico. The first town to embrace and implement the idea was the offshore island-municipality of Culebra. Once completed, Bousquet Rodríguez met with the Ponce municipal authorities from whence Ponce became the artists' next stop.
The project was co-chaired by the Museo de Arte de Ponce, while Ponce municipal government established the range of themes to be included in the murals. The theme of the displays had to be consistent with the history, culture, music and architecture of the city of Ponce. The kickoff event for the Ponce es Ley project took place on 8 April 2017. Twenty-two local, regional and international artists participated.
Images and mapped locations of over 50 works of Ponce street art are increasingly available in Google Maps. Hotspots for viewing Ponce es Ley street art include: Plaza Las Delicias and Paseo Amor. Sites for the murals include: the Puerto Rico Lottery building on Calle Union facing Plaza Degetau; the unoccupied building at the northwest corner of Calle Sol and Calle Mayor; the Instituto de Musica Juan Morel Campos at the southeast corner of Calle Cristina and Calle Mayor; the parking lot of Centro Islamico de Ponce on Calle Luna, near Calle Mayor; and Paseo Amor, located on the east end of Plaza Degetau.
Themes include Ponce culture, including vejigantes, homage to prominent people from Ponce, city life, family memories and folklore, Ponce countryside and agriculture.