This week, we're exploring the world of Okuda San Miguel, a Spanish artist whose bold, multicolored murals have lit up walls on nearly every continent, and whose belief in art's power to bring people together extends far beyond the wall. His geometric, rainbow-bright art celebrates every one of us. You can see his murals on buildings and objects worldwide. How far and wide? India, Italy, Mali, France, the United States, Japan, Chile, Brazil, Peru, South Africa, Mexico, Canada, Morocco, Ukraine, and Spain!!
See
Let's start with the skate park, the work that helped him make his mark on the world and led him to create murals and sculptures that made him an internationally recognized artist.
Kaos Temple (La Iglesia Skate)
A forgotten space can become a gathering place.
This 100-year-old church in Llanera, Spain, remained abandoned for decades, until a group of skaters and artists transformed it into their own place of worship: the Kaos Temple, aka La Iglesia Skate. Colorful geometric works by artist Okuda San Miguel now cover the dome and walls, and a giant half pipe replaced church pews. “I even like the sound of skating at a church,” says professional skater Danny Leon. “In this place, I feel like I can vent while skating -I feel the peace.” (The skatepark has since closed for ongoing maintenance, but the images and the idea live on.) Just imagine how 'seen' you would feel skating in such a place!!
Universal Chapel
Some artists paint a picture. Some paint a whole place, and then they ask who it's for.
Okuda San Miguel transformed a family home in Fort Smith, Kansas, into a symbol of the city’s social and cultural pluralism. Commissioned by Justkids and titled “Universal Chapel,” the work combines the artist’s unique iconography with elements of the Indian societies that lived in the area.
Sky Unicorn, Shenzhen, China
Sky Unicorn is Okuda's 10-meter sculpture in the outdoor public spaces of Longhua Uniwalk, a leading Shenzhen shopping mall. It anchors the mall's contemporary art vision. The automotive-painted stainless-steel unicorn rears up, frozen in time.
7 Sculptures at Boston Seaport
Ranging from eight to twelve feet tall, the artworks were installed on alternating medians along Seaport Boulevard, creating an art corridor that brightens the urban landscape. Using his signature geometric forms to build three-dimensional characters, Okuda drew on mythological figures and local wildlife to create a striking series of sculptures.
Rainbow Thief, 2019
Okuda painted a spectacular multicolored mural entitled “Rainbow Thief” on the main wall of a run-down building in Hong Kong’s Sham Shui Po district. The work was part of the 2019 HK Walls Festival, the city’s annual public art event. “Rainbow Thief” features a giant bear created from a spectrum of bright tones and geometric forms. The work has become part of the fabric of the city, transforming the look and feel of the district. Its presence has also made Sham Shui Po popular with tourists visiting Hong Kong.
Discover the Magic of Mini Art!
Are you ready to think small and create big? Inchies and twinchies are miniature, square works of art measuring exactly 1x1 inch or 2x2 inches. Made with paper, fabric, paint, or embroidery, these tiny canvases let creators experiment with mixed media, collage, and slow stitching without the pressure of a large project. They are widely used as decorative embellishments in junk journals, handmade greeting cards, and art-swapping communities. Whether you are a seasoned mixed-media artist or a curious beginner looking to spark your creativity, come explore the delightful world of miniature art. I am hosting a hands-on workshop right here in the Twin Cities, and I would love for you to join us!
- Date: Wednesday, October 21st, 2026
- Time: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
- Cost: $45 (All materials included)
In this workshop, you will:
- Learn how to layer textures and colors on a tiny 1-inch or 2-inch scale.
- Experiment with scrap paper, textiles, stitching, and micro-embellishments.
- Connect with fellow local makers and walk away with your own collection of mini masterpieces.
Spaces are limited to ensure everyone gets personalized guidance and plenty of crafting materials.✨ Click Here to Sign Up & Reserve Your Spot! ✨
Look closely at those colorful figures. Many are faceless or "anonymous" on purpose. When a face isn't one skin tone, one identity, or one story, it can belong to everyone.
Okuda's belief in art as a force for good eventually grew into something bigger. After years of using his art to support social causes, he and the Ink and Movement team founded the Coloring the World Foundation in Madrid. Its mission is simple and powerful: promote diversity and optimism through art by supporting projects that improve life for vulnerable people and communities at risk of exclusion. Color is the symbol and the engine of everything they do. Okuda serves as its honorary president and "number-one ambassador." In his words:
"I believe in the transformational power of art and its potential to improve people and their surroundings."
Color Day (Miami, 2022). Okuda visited three Miami-Dade schools (Riverside Elementary, Coral Way K-8 Bilingual Center, and Young Women's Preparatory Academy). Students and teachers didn't just watch; they learned to use spray paint and helped create three murals themselves. Teachers had studied Okuda's work in class for years, so for many kids, meeting the artist felt like meeting a storybook character in real life. That's the heart of it: art isn't something that happens to a community. It happens with them.
“Art must be present in public spaces, and my mission is to transform these spaces in a way that further enhances the passerby's experience,” the Spanish artist shares. “I aim at creating vibrant places that are filled with color and positivity. I want people to stop looking at the pavement and start looking up and around.”
Say
"I started out painting abandoned factories and tracksides in Santander in 1996."
- How do you think people in Santander and other communities feel when Okuda turns gray, crumbling walls into a burst of color and geometric shapes?
- Okuda often leaves faces anonymous. Why might an artist choose that? How does it change who feels "seen" in the picture?
- Think of a place in your town that feels forgotten. What might it become if people colored it together?
Do
Try this "Our Colors" activity (15–30 minutes, any age):
- Grab paper and markers, crayons, or watercolor.
- Draw a simple face or animal outline.
- Divide it into geometric shapes: triangles, diamonds, stripes.
- Fill each shape with a color that represents something you love, a person you care about, or a place you come from.
- Step back. You've made a self-portrait that's made of everyone and everything that shaped you.
Make it a group project: Have family, friends, or classmates each add one shape and color to a shared piece. Notice how the whole gets richer with every voice.
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About the Artist: Okuda San Miguel
Born Óscar San Miguel Ericein in Santander, Spain, in 1980, Okuda lives and works in Madrid, where he runs his studio. Okuda started out in graffiti in the late 1990s. Over time, he developed his own visual language, mixing street art, surrealism, pop culture, and symbolism.
Seeing art around him and studying artists in school, like Salvador Dali and Max Ernst, motivated Okuda to draw letters and served as a launching pad. In 1997, when he was seventeen, Okuda started a graffiti crew called Jungle Jonky with local artists 2X, Cdd, and Cbx, painting up old factories and railway walls.
(hifructose)
In 2000, he moved to Madrid to study professionally at Complutense. It was here that he developed his unique style, incorporating clean lines and color. Street letters transformed into circles, triangles, and rhomboids. “Later, I mixed my street geometrics with my surrealistic works in the studio,” Okuda recalls. “I started to do my own characters; humans, animals, and trees lost inside geometric architectures and landscapes.”
A pivotal moment in his career came in 2015 with the transformation of a deconsecrated church into the iconic Kaos Temple, a project that propelled him onto the international stage and led to collaborations with cultural institutions and global brands. Since beginning his studio practice in 2009, Okuda has continued to expand his artistic universe through murals, sculptures, exhibitions, and large-scale public interventions around the world.
His work includes sculptures for the Boston Seaport, participation in the Titanes social inclusion initiative, and his monumental mural The Evolution of Language in Saginaw, Michigan.
The Evolution of Language
Alongside public art, Okuda creates studio works using techniques like embroidery, collage, and mixed media, while also exploring sculpture, photography, video, and digital formats.
Instagram, Facebook
Other Affiliations:
- Coloring the World Foundation is a Madrid-based nonprofit, founded by artist Okuda San Miguel, that uses art and color to promote diversity and optimism and to support communities at risk of exclusion. Support the mission- the foundation runs a "Kolor Dinner" fundraiser and accepts donations via ctw-foundation.org, Instagram
- Justkids is an international art platform, creative agency, and consultancy founded by curator Charlotte Dutoit. They specialize in curating, producing, and managing large-scale public art projects, immersive installations, brand collaborations, and cultural festivals worldwide. Justkids has been a primary production partner and creative force behind several of Okuda's most recognizable public installations.
Okuda's work reminds me that color isn't just decoration. It's a way of saying you belong here. When we make room for every color on the wall, we make room for every person in the world.
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With color and gratitude,
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