in Bogota there is the most amazing street art, sadly i was only able to get a couple of pictures.

a guide told us that a few years ago, a kid was tagging a wall and the local police shot him. not long after Justin Bieber was playing a concert and asked if he could create a graffiti piece.  the authorities said yes, and arranged security while the “celebrity” created some terrible Canadian leaf or something of that nature.  rightly so, the people of the city were outraged,  a local boy gets killed for painting a wall and yet they bring out 3/4 of the police force to guard a pop-star while doing the same thing.

in order to help right the wrong, the mayor opened up a portion of the city to street art and offered a cash award to the artist with the best piece.  people are still creating new pieces, and some of the artists are now quite famous.

a tragic story with an artistic outcome.