Pathway to hope public mural with UN

In 2022, I developed Camino de Esperanza, a participatory mural project in collaboration with UN Human Rights and together with Christina MacGillivray, at Casa Refugiados, a shelter for migrants and refugees traveling through Mexico City. The project was grounded in a clear intention: to represent migration stories through the direct participation of the people who live them, rather than speaking about them from the outside.

The process began with an arts workshop with a group of migrants and refugees, where participants shared their experiences, journeys, and memories. Throughout these conversations, a common thread emerged: the power of small acts of kindness—simple gestures like sharing a cup of coffee or a piece of bread—that, in moments of extreme vulnerability, can mean everything. This exchange became the conceptual and emotional starting point of the mural.

From these shared stories, I transformed the reflections from the workshop into a large-scale mural painted on the walls of the shelter, with workshop participants actively taking part in bringing the piece to life. The mural functions as a gesture of welcome and accompaniment for people in transit, and as a reminder to the broader community that kindness matters. Beyond the physical space, the project expanded through a video broadcast across Mexico City’s metro stations, reaching millions of people daily with a simple yet powerful message: small acts can change lives.