Senior Citizen Street Art

Lisbon has a major street art scene and the LATA 65 (lata means 'can' in Portuguese while 65 is the age of retirement) creative art workshop was established to help the seniors not only embrace and understand street art, but also to help shatter stereotypes. 

"People around the world are not used to seeing seniors painting in the streets or even thinking they could be interested in urban art or trying it," program founder Lara Rodrigues said. 

The program has encouraged seniors to get involved in the arts and also helps them to understand the meaning behind some of the graffiti they see around the city.  

Rodrigues says that over 100 seniors - aged 63 to 94 - have participated so far. 

In the workshops, the class is given a "brief journey through graffiti and street art history...a visual experience. They learn about how it began and it's journey to Europe and Portugal," Rodrigues said.  

She added: "We talk about the differences between graffiti, street art and muralism, between their practices, codes and technique, between the writers/artists and so on. The purpose is to explain and make them understand and recognise what they see in the street." 

Local business owners and residents around the city offer Rodrigues walls that they will be allowed to spray on. 

"I often say that the spray can has something magical. Everyone likes to experiment and the elderly are no exception," she said.