Painted Doors in the Old Part of Funchal

A mermaid sitting on a swing on the seabed while staring at a dolphin. A naked angel flying below clouds and armed with a bow and arrow. A sign reading  “You Are Under Surveillance” above a couple and child whose heads are covered in paper bags. These are some of the many scenes and words painted onto the deteriorating doors of Rua Santa Maria in the Old Part of Funchal.

In 2010, José Maria Montero had an idea — to have artists paint the doors of abandoned shops and homes. He asked over 100 artists, most of them island natives, to participate in the Arte Portas Abertas project, and gave them simple instructions: pick a door and create whatever you want on it. Not limited to paint, some artists used clay, metal, ceramic tiles and even the keys to a computer keyboard to create art on 161 doors. One artist used iridescent glass and stones to create a sunset over a pebbled beach. Another sculpted hundreds of tiny faces onto the surface of a door.

The youngest participant was only nine years old. The oldest was sixty-five.

The doors have opened up the street to creativity and prosperity and the artists themselves are made up of professionals, amateurs, teachers and students - everyone who simply wants to express themselves through art.

The Old Part of Town has very much had a major facelift in such a way that what was once rundown and vacant is now bustling with cafés and tourists.