In May, Converation at heART, our global initiative for empowering our people through the power of visual art, moved to Barranquilla, Colombia.
Our Barranquilla team was one of the first to embrace the initiative, and engaged with the project with great enthusiasm and a willingness to experiment.. In the new Columbian Foundever hub they had two large walls – one in the gym and a large, bright space bordered by bay windows in the cafeteria – ready to welcome a mural each.
The local team’s desire was clear: they wanted a colorful, energetic work of art that conveyed Foundever® values as well as a youthfulness that captured employee aspirations.
Given the relevance and vitality of the street art scene in Colombia, the selection naturally fell to urban art, or street art, as the best style for conveying their message across two 30-foot+ walls. The association of Colombian artists – Dmental – was selected for the project, led by its founder Camilo Ruiz. Founded in 2004 by a group of several street artists, Dmental has a two-pronged approach: production and sale of tools dedicated to urban art and production of large-scale commissioned murals, for companies, cities or special projects.
Their diversity of style and techniques was an instant match our Colombia team.
After several collaborations between the artists and the Foundever team, the production of the two works began the week of March 8. Two artists from Dmental participated in the project: Camilo Ruiz, specialized in graffiti, and Riso, specialized in the illustrations.
For the cafeteria, a large, figurative mural representing the associates’ influences and diversity was produced in a “comic book” style, where the images speak for themselves.
In the gym, a composition of graffiti using different styles of lettering and colors was created to celebrate the bold, simple and grounded values of Foundever.
Foundever Barranquilla associates were excited to watch the murals being created and be able to be a part of the process, discussing the works with Camilo and Riso. And, likewise, the artists enjoyed working in such a different space; they appreciated the fact that our organization invests time and energy into such an artistic project dedicated to their people. Once again, our Conversation at HeART project enables our people to take control of and help mold the visual identity of their location.
To learn more, read about the Paris installation of Conversation at heART here..