Favela. Venezuela (August 2020)

Acrylic on Canvas

24” x 30”

David saw these overcrowded housing structures on the hillsides surrounding Caracas, Venezuela in 2008.  The favela—a neighborhood which is home to many poor and working people who migrated from the countryside to find a better life-- is common throughout the world and is typically neglected by the government. 

 David photographed this favela when he and Calvin Myles toured literacy programs in Venezuela. Even though the houses were faded by weather and the effects of poverty, David chose to restore their bright colors in his painting.

 “I wanted to show the original bright colors to remind us to be hopeful, and to underline the intention of people to try to have beautiful houses together,” he says.