SAO PAULO AND STREET ART
São Paulo, Brazil, is very famous for its graffiti. There are many murals on the city’s walls. A mural is a painting that is painted on a wall. Every year millions of tourists visit the city of Sao Paolo and they like the murals. They see the paintings as art.
Avenida 23 de Maio is a very long street. It is very long with 70 murals. It is about 5 km long. Many tourists like the murals and take photos in front of it. Eduardo Kobra is a local artist. He paints murals in cities worldwide. He says “Street art in São Paulo is a postcard for São Paulo.”
But some people think that the murals make São Paulo less beautiful. São Paulo has a new Mayor João Doria. He thinks that the murals make the city ugly. He has a new campaign. He calls it the “Pretty City” campaign. Doria says he wants to clean up São Paulo. He wants people to be proud of their town.
As part of the campaign, many street workers pick up garbage and plant trees. They also put new trashcans in streets. They erase the city murals. They paint white over it so that the wall looks cleaner and more beautiful. Many people think that the wall looks better now.
Some people are happy the graffiti is not there anymore but others are not. They say graffiti makes São Paulo unique. There aren’t many other cities like it in the world.
People also want the Mayor to work on other things. They say that he must work on poverty, education and health care. They think that he must help the poor people in the city.