By Eugenio Amézquita Velasco
Translation: Metro News Mx
I met Waylon Hedegaard in March 2022 during a visit he made to Comonfort. I can say he is a true lover of art and of our country. I learned that he has been living in San Miguel de Allende since 2019 and has dedicated himself to documenting, spreading, and promoting local urban art and muralism.
We met at the Hotel Posada Chamacuero, allowing me to talk with him and interview him, accompanied by businessman José Luis Revilla Macías. In 2019, Hedegaard and his wife Renee Ewine sold their belongings in the United States and moved to San Miguel de Allende with their four cats. Since then, he has become a well-known figure in the city, walking through the neighborhoods to photograph, record, and map murals and graffiti.
He uses his technological skills to register and share online the urban artworks he finds in the city. He participated in initiatives like the Renace Urban Art Festival (2021), supporting local artists and promoting the recognition of San Miguel as the Latin American capital of muralism.
He conducts guided walking tours through neighborhoods and districts to showcase murals and explain their context. He is appreciated by artists and residents as someone who brings murals to life by registering and spreading them, becoming a bridge between street art and the community.
The interesting thing is that Hedegaard went from being a union leader in North Dakota to becoming a visual chronicler of Mexican muralism. His career reflects a transition from labor advocacy to the defense of public art as an expression of dignity and cultural sovereignty.
His union experience
Waylon Hedegaard was an American union leader, president of the North Dakota AFL-CIO, with a career in defending workers and training trade apprentices.
His work consisted of coordinating the different state unions to find common ground and develop collective strategies. He served as the training director for Boilermakers Local 647 (2009–2015), where he trained apprentices to become highly skilled professionals. He is a Boilermaker by trade, with practical experience in industrial work. A "boilermaker" is a person who fabricates or repairs boilers and heavy steel structures.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Mary (1985–1989). He was a Peace Corps volunteer in the Central African Republic, which gave him an international and community perspective.
Hedegaard has also worked to promote labor history. On his YouTube channel, he shared lectures on the evolution of the labor movement, from the Industrial Revolution up to 2013.
His profile combined union militancy, technical training, and social commitment. As president of the AFL-CIO in North Dakota, he represented the voice of workers in a state with a strong presence of extractive and manufacturing industries. Additionally, his experience as an educator and international volunteer gives him a broad focus on labor dignity and social justice.
Thank you, Waylon, for being who you are and for supporting Mexican artists in San Miguel. #MetroNewsMx #GuanajuatoDesconocido
