Costa Rica is more than blue skies and beaches. Here is some of the most recognizable public artwork around the vibrant city of San José, from our university neighborhood and beyond.
This well-known graffiti of an elderly woman, tired, bruised, and lying horizontally, is a nod to the heritage and culture of Costa Rican past. She wears the traditional dress of an older generation that is becoming rarer and rarer to see worn downtown.
Businesses, schools, government buildings- it seems almost no places are off limits for daring street artists. This blue sloth decorates a residential home in the Sabanilla neighborhood near ICDS.
A small slice of a massive mural at Hotel Presidente on Avenida Central in downtown San José. We won’t spoil the surprise and awe of seeing it in person, but do you see the hidden animal in this frame?
With public support for creative, outdoor artwork, there isn’t the same race for space like other cities. Vandalism of public art is rare, and murals don’t get painted over until they literally fade into obscurity.
An iconic street corner near Avenida Central. This small plot of land sits in the middle of massive downtown development. The graffiti around it changes regularly, but the rainbow-colored doorway is constant.
One of the most photographed outdoor murals, this image shows a rat whispering into a hypnotized cat’s ear. Animals are a common theme of graffiti in Costa Rica, but the rat is especially popular in works of political satire.
A Halloween-inspired section of the most popular street art area in town. This is a small piece of the City of Color Murals on Calle 17 that connects several downtown parks, government buildings, and main roads. A must-see for any art enthusiast!
Imagine… seeing one of your pop culture idols on a walk to class. This larger than life John Lennon is one of many famous faces in a university neighborhood just around the corner from our ICDS office.
This happy building is the work of Gussa, one of Costa Rica’s most well-known street artists. His brightly colored, happy walls can be seen all around San José, like this iconic wall in the trendy La Cali neighborhood
This brightly colored mural sits outside a women’s shelter in Barrio Escalante. Not pictured is the text above, “Mujeres refugiadas y migrantes viviendo en libertad”.
This monkey in a suit is another one of the most popular and photographed works of street art, most likely for its intentional and clever choice of location- right in the middle of a downtown business center.
Not all street artists are vandals. Many businesses and neighborhoods now commission artists to decorate their walls with shareable, ‘grammable’ moments like this rather than wait to see what graffiti naturally appears.
