100,000 Bottle Caps Transform Violent Neighborhood

A neighborhood once marked by gang violence now hosts the world's largest recycled bottle cap mural, and the transformation goes far deeper than the artwork itself.

Venezuelan artist Óscar Olivares just completed a stunning 42-foot portrait in El Salvador's Zacamil neighborhood using over 100,000 recycled plastic bottle caps. The colorful "Salvadoran Mona Lisa" depicts a Latin American woman dressed in the colors of the country's flag.

But the real story isn't just the size. It's where it stands.

Zacamil was once defined by gang graffiti marking territory. Today, the 29-year-old artist is rewriting that narrative with community-driven art that celebrates ordinary citizens as the true heart of Latin America's renewal.

"We're not experiencing it in a museum," Olivares told AFP. "We're experiencing it in a working-class community."

The woman in the mural doesn't represent anyone specific. According to Olivares, she embodies any everyday person because El Salvador's renaissance lives in its ordinary citizens.

The Ripple Effect

The mural required months of preparation before a single cap was placed. Residents of Zacamil partnered with the National Association of Collectors and Recyclers of El Salvador to gather the materials over several months.

Every cap was washed and sorted by color. Olivares used the original colors without painting them, creating the portrait through careful placement alone. The installation itself took three weeks as each cap was secured with special adhesive.

The project gave neighbors a completely different view of plastic waste. What once cluttered streets became public art that represents their community's transformation.

Funded by Full Painting and Custom Made Stories Foundation, the initiative aims to revitalize Zacamil through sustainable, culturally significant projects. The organization sees art as a tool for lasting neighborhood change.

For Olivares, who has 46 recycled art pieces displayed worldwide, this project taught him something bigger than technique. "El Salvador has been a great school that has taught me the great role that art plays in the transformation of a nation," he shared on Instagram.

The artist says the real gift isn't the record-breaking mural but the friendships, teamwork, and kindness he witnessed. He believes Zacamil has become a model for the world.

Where gangs once claimed walls, communities now claim hope through creativity and shared purpose.