{"id":378829,"date":"2026-04-02T21:00:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T21:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/378829\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T21:00:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T21:00:11","slug":"waterford-artist-paints-mural-on-mexican-motorway-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/378829\/","title":{"rendered":"Waterford artist paints mural on Mexican motorway – News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lucas Dwan is a painter, graphic designer and general operative based in Waterford.<\/p>\n

Two weeks ago, Lucas went to Monterey to assist artist \u2018MadC\u2019 alongside many other artists to paint the motorways of Mexico ahead of the FIFA World Cup, which will be held this summer.<\/p>\n

Artists from all over the world are painting the urban landscape of Mexico. According to Lucas, motorways, under bridges and walls in the city are all being painted in a variety of different art styles.<\/p>\n

Monterrey is the eighth biggest city in Mexico with a population of over one million. However, Lucas said that: \u201cDublin felt bigger than Monterey, it’s more spaced out.\u201d He really enjoyed working with local Mexican artists on the project, saying, \u201cEveryone is so nice, I couldn\u2019t believe how nice everyone was.\u201d The painting that Lucas worked on \u201cwas inspired by the landscape \u2013 the mountains and some of the city skyline.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

How Lucas ended up painting a motorway in Monterrey is \u201ca long story made long.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2019, Waterford Walls had an emerging artist programme where they partnered early career artists with professional artists. Lucas was partnered with \u2018MadC\u2019, \u201cShe helped me paint a wall, I helped her paint her wall.\u201d Through this mentorship programme, the two artists became friends, and since then, MadC has invited Lucas on trips all over the world from Germany to Mexico.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe murals were commissioned by the Mexican government ahead of the World Cup this summer. Photo: Lucas Dwan<\/p>\n

Lucas is drawn to walls rather than a traditional canvas because “it’s for everybody.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lucas continued, “If you\u2019re just having a normal day and you see a wall and it makes it you happy or inspires you \u2013 I like that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lucas\u2019 most recent mural was on Jenkins\u2019 Lane. He said, \u201c It’s abstract, with sunflowers. It’s inspired by a skateboard I did.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lucas also likes the more practical side of painting walls. He said: \u201cWith spray paint, if you make a mistake, you just paint over it, it’s very quick. It might sound crazy, but the bigger the wall, the easier it is to paint.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lucas explained that painting details such as an eye are much easier when he has more space to work with. \u201cThe eyeball might be the size of your body.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He also likes the social aspect of wall murals: \u201cYou\u2019re outside, you\u2019re talking to people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lucas got into art properly when he went to an arts and crafts school in Thomastown and then went on to do work experience with Waterford Walls.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"TheThe mural represents the surrounding landscape. Photo: Lucas Dwan<\/p>\n

He explained, \u201cI chose to be an artist because I like creating stuff, but also, I\u2019ve had a lot of bad bosses. I always thought I was a good worker. I used to work in this bar\/restaurant in Kilkenny and because I was a good worker, it was always my job to clean up puke.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

What Lucas likes about being an artist is the independence. \u201cIf I work hard, it’s appreciated. If I don\u2019t work hard, I don\u2019t get good.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lucas works as a general operative at a biogas company three days a week to pay the bills. He also does graphic design. Now, he\u2019s working on a book for a disability theatre company.<\/p>\n

Lucas didn\u2019t always know that he wanted to be an artist. After school, he worked in Australia for a year \u201cI\u2019d spend all my money and then have to work again. There was no responsibility.\u201d After that, Lucas gave college a go: \u201cI tried to do social care in Carlow, and I didn\u2019t like it.\u201d After that, he went travelling for a few years. \u201cI went to Christchurch, which is full of murals. That\u2019s how I got inspired.\u201d He also went to Hawaii for three months, but then he \u201cpopped his shoulder\u201d so he had to come home.<\/p>\n

Lucas is a site manager for Waterford Walls, and \u201cI\u2019m also fortunate enough to paint every year.\u201d As well as his graphic design business (pmglucas), he is also running an artists’ book fair in Kilkenny this summer (you can get more details on Instagram at: atelierp\u00e1ipear). You can also follow Lucas’ wall murals on Instagram by following him at: laidbackdesign.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lucas Dwan is a painter, graphic designer and general operative based in Waterford. Two weeks ago, Lucas went…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,308,93,61,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-378829","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}