This 'Forgotten' City in Aruba Is Becoming One of the Caribbean's Hot Spots for Art and Culture

"A powerful story lies in the colorful streets of San Nicolas. The island's second-largest city-known for its past as a thriving port and industrial hub during Aruba's oil boom, and later as the island's red light district-is now at the epicenter of a cultural revival. Today, locals like Tito Bolivar, founder of a host of local art initiatives, including the Aruba Art Fair, are setting out to not only reclaim what the city once was, but also transform it into a celebration of Aruban culture."

""San Nicolas used to be one of the most important places in Aruba, but it's become a forgotten city. I wanted to bring light, art, and culture back," said Bolivar. "I started with the Aruba Art Fair, which includes a program where artists paint murals in San Nicolas. The goal was to rebrand San Nicolas as the 'street art capital' of the Caribbean.""

Aruba combines powder-soft beaches and turquoise waters with a vibrant cultural core centered in San Nicolas. San Nicolas reflects the island's heritage shaped by generations of Afro-Caribbean and South American immigrants and serves as a melting pot for diverse cuisines and traditions. The city, once a thriving oil-boom port and later a red light district, is experiencing a cultural revival driven by local leaders and art initiatives. Public murals and the Aruba Art Fair aim to rebrand San Nicolas as a regional street-art capital, reclaiming history and celebrating resilience, reinvention, and communal pride across the island.

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