The Museo Cielo Abierto San Miguel is about a twenty minute metro ride from downtown on the yellow line. The “museum” is a neighborhood of social housing that has been transformed by a collection of murals. The murals line the north and south facades of the buildings facing Av. Departamental and Tristan Matta one block north. The surrounding area is visibly a much lower income neighborhood than the other neighborhoods we’ve been to in the city. It’s interesting how a low-income neighborhood has put itself on the map, per se, by investing its time and effort into public art.

On our way there, a man asked us if we were going to Cielo Abierto, and we told him we were. He gave us exact directions and walked with us a ways. I found it interesting that we were immediately noticed as not belonging to the neighborhood and that the murals had gathered enough attention that people who lived there were used to visitors. I’m currently in a class focusing on how art and culture can help improve the quality of living in cities and one thing that I kept thinking about was how the murals had changed the neighborhood. Of course the residents have these great pieces of art to call their own, but many of these people aren’t living in the best conditions. While we were there, I almost felt obligated to find a local shop to buy something as a way to give back to the neighborhood, however most of the places had closed already. I think it is an issue that needs to be addressed when thinking of places like this.

This project is very reminiscent of Quartier Etats Unis in Lyon that I visited last year. It was also a large section of social housing that had become worn down over the years. The residents and municipality decided in order to entice people back to the area and improve the poor quality of the buildings themselves, they would commission a set of murals. The murals there tell the history of the city and the Etats Unis development. The San Miguel murals represent a more eclectic mix of messages and styles. My favorite was one that seemed to capture the spirit of the city of Santiago and it also cleverly incorporated a shack in front of the mural wall. Other murals took inspiration from other cultures and some even had messages like workers’ rights. The murals definitely had a great impact on the space and have become a unique trademark for San Miguel.

The murals are located on the previously blank facades facing the street

This mural utilizes the shed in front as another surface to paint on as if it was one, uninterrupted mural. This mural is a showcase to Santiago as a whole.

After leaving Plaza de la Constitucion today, Asya, Serena and I went to La Chascona (the Pablo Neruda house in Santiago). It’s at the base of Cerro San Cristobal and the end of the Bellavista barrio. The house is actually three separate buildings, one along the street and two on the hillside. The house has a maritime language with porthole windows, creaky wooden floors, metal ship-like railings, and a primarily blue color scheme with yellow accents. The entrance courtyard to the house is situated at the first level of the guest house (the street-facing building) and you can either enter the guest house or take the stairs to the main house. In the guest house is a bar and dining room on the first floor with a secret passageway to a guest suite above. The guest suite opens to the upper level of the garden. From there, you go up to the main house. This is a two story building, the lower floor is the living room and a dining nook and the upper floor is the bedroom (which is inaccessible to visitors). The fireplace in the living room placed in the corner and is rounded to mimic the rounded shape of the façade. Natural wood is also used in several places, most notably as a column dividing the space. The fireplace is white and the walls are stone. From the main house, you travel up a series of winding steps to the library (and another bar). An interesting note is that the fireplace in this room has the same rounded form as the one in the living room, however it is made of stone and the adjacent wall is white (an inverse from the materiality in the living room). The “France Room” as it is called (I am not sure of its original function, it’s currently a gallery of some if Neruda’s works and photos) is at the end of the library and a large window looks out over the hillside and out towards the city.

View of the fireplace in the living room