Ben Andreesen is a rising junior majoring in Environmental Science and Anthropology. He will be using the 2024 Summer Research Grant to conduct field research for his project titled, “City of Change: The Value of Street Art in Cartagena.”

Beginning in the 1980s, the Colombian state expanded its tourism project, investing resources in the Cartagena as a Caribbean getaway for national and international tourists. At this same time, and particularly in the past two decades, the city has invested in a prominent street art project, growing sufficiently to become one of its emblematic characteristics. I seek to contextualize these local forms of publicly available art in a city that commodifies space and cultural elements for the interests of foreigners. This study will be informed by one month of participant observation conducted in Cartagena, alongside interviews of artists, vendors, and tourists.