To some, the graffiti that covers miles of walls and public spaces across Mexico City is a thing of beauty and something to be encouraged and celebrated. To others, such as the local government’s Youth Institute, it’s an ugly nuisance.

A government project mobilized more than 1,000 youngsters earlier this month to clean up and repaint a graffiti-covered wall in the south of the city, as part of an urban spruce-up scheme for the summer.

See the video for more.

– Deborah Bonello in Mexico City for the Los Angeles Times.

Video: The Mexico City government recruited more than 1,000 young people in this to make over a graffiti-covered wall in the south of the city. Credit: Deborah Bonello / Los Angeles Times

You may remember Colombian street artist Bastardilla from the piece I did on La Plaza a few months back.

In a country with such a rich artistic heritage of mural-ism, graffiti is a popular past-time for many of Mexico´s youth.

Last week, Henry Chalfant – a photographer and filmmaker who has focused his career on documenting the form of street art — paid a visit to el Faro, a community arts center in the working class neighborhood of Iztapalapa, Mexico City. The event was organized by Graffitarte, a Mexico City-based arts group.

Some of the young people who came to the event were there specifically to see Chalfant — others just wanted the chance to graffiti in peace in a city where space for their form of expression is limited. Watch the video for more.

This post was made for La Plaza.