Lisbon boasts the first urban art park in Portugal

This is a public space to channel the creative energy of street artists

Graffiti art has had a controversial history, but it is becoming ever more accepted by urban officials around the world. A testament to that is the recent unveiling of the Street Art Park in the Portuguese capital Lisbon, making it the first city in the country to have such dedicated space, and one of the few in the world.

Inaugurated on the 4 June, the initiative, carried out by the Lisbon municipality’s GAU – Galeria de Arte Urbana (Urban Art Gallery), aims to concentrate in a single place everything related to the world of street arts and culture. It includes everything from graffiti to artistic works on murals, and among other things, performing arts such as break dancing.

More creativity, less vandalism

The Street Art Park is located on David Mourão Ferreira Street in Lumiar. It is spread over 4300 square metres in the location of what used to be a garden. The municipal equipment brings together 14 free painting walls, designed to welcome different styles and artistic proposals and also a sports area - the Pump Track Skate.

With this initiative, the city authorities intend to continue to develop spaces for free painting in Lisbon, which will be accessible to national and international artists (both established and emerging) and to the general public.

The creation of this space dedicated to street culture, naturally, is a concerted effort on part of City Hall to implement a new policy towards the issue of illegal graffiti and vandalism on public property by embracing it proactively rather than trying to stop it or eradicate it.

The project was developed by GAU - Galeria de Arte Urbana (a municipal gallery specializing specifically in street art), in conjunction with Sports, Urbanism and Green spaces councils of the city, parish councils and different partners. Its core is the creation of a set of structures and refurbished equipment as a way to regenerate neighbourhoods, mitigate vandalism and enhance public space, creating proximity projects between the artistic community and its inhabitants.