Artists transform town into 'Mexico's largest mural'

Houses covering a hill in the Mexican town of Palmitas have been transformed into swirling rainbow as part of a large-scale art project that took more than two months to complete.

Hundreds of houses painted in bright colors in what organizers claim is Mexico's largest mural, is part of a government-sponsored project is called Pachuca Paints Itself, in the Palmitas neighborhood, in Pachuca, Mexico. (AAP)

Hundreds of houses in the Mexican town of Palmitas have been painted bright colours as part of a collaboration between street artists and local authorities.

The group of street artists – named the Germen Crew - spent more than two and a half months painting 209 homes in the neighbourhood, covering some 20,000 square meters.

The work, named "El Macro Mural Barrio de Palmitas", has also been dubbed the "largest mural in Mexico".

Residents in the low-income town also took part in the transformation, assisting with painting the many walls in bright shades of pink, purple, green and orange.

German Crew member Carlos Duarte, left, is accompanied by Regina Robles, right, as he paints a section of a gigantic mural. (AAP) Source: AP

Project director Enrique Gomez said the goal was to reinvigorate the town and help shake off its unsafe image.

"Every colour represents the soul of the neighbourhood," he said. "It has been a community effort as each household has participated in some way."

He said the project, which was funded by local government, had impacted the way the community saw itself and interacted.

"Honestly, what surprises me the most is that people are really changing," he said.

"They are growing – there is more community spirit. People are taking the security of their neighbourhood into their own hands."

Director of the artist collective Germen Crew, Enrique Gomez, who goes by MYBE. (AAP) Source: AP