Help Mexican Youths Fight Violence Through Art

San Agustin, located in Cholula, Puebla, is a small community of 2,634 whose families are mainly supported by the growing of flowers and seeds.  With a very deep sense of tradition, San Agustin struggles with few or no opportunities for their young people.  Like many other towns in Mexico, it has a high emigration rate, teenage pregnancy and alcoholism common among its young students, and a poverty index that rises every year.

This year, in an effort to contribute to change, reduce violence and transform this community, Arquetopia chose to collaborate with international environmental artist Yolanda Gutierrez and a group of twenty young artists from The Frida Kahlo High School to create a public art piece.  The project, addressing emigration as a theme and using natural materials, will draw attention to the local clinic frequently visited by the people of San Agustin, asking them questions about the identity, sustainability and future of their own community.  In the process the group of young artists will learn about the environment, the power of art, and the potential each one of them has to actively participate and transform their community.