Editor’s Note: The video is a segment from the CNN Style show.

CNN  — 

In the waterfront neighborhood of Santo Cristo, Rio de Janeiro, an artistic revolution has been growing in an unexpected corner.

Built in 1934, Fabrica Bhering was once a chocolate factory. Today, the 20,000-square-meter (215,280 square feet) building is home to local artisans, sculptors and painters.

“There’s a great variety, ranging from the furniture maker to the copy machine operator, to clothing designers from Cape Verde,” says resident sculptor Barrão.

Fabrica Bhering in Rio de Janeiro is now home to a community of artists.

“We are trying to promote the artistic component within by bringing artists from other parts of Brazil and the world to work here as resident artists for a given period of time.”

A famous alum

The community’s notable alums include street artist Rodrigo Villas, who cut his teeth at the factory before taking his art to the rest of the country – and, eventually, the world.

Though he now splits his time between Barcelona and Rio, the essence of his work has remained the same.

“[Street art] is like a gift for everybody. It’s like you’re painting a canvas, but not just for one person,” he says. “It’s a gift for a neighborhood.”

A Rodrigo Villas mural in Rio de Janeiro.

Over the years, he’s collaborated with another Rio multipurpose space, too.

Part gallery, part boutique, Homegrown works with Brazilian street artists to bring their works to other disciplines, arranging apparel brand collaborations, and encouraging them to produce and sell smaller-scale works.

“We are friends of most of artists so we have this direct contact with most of them,” say co-owner Marco Andre Tosatth, a friend of Villas. “We have a mix of artists, different styles and techniques. And for us, they are the best right now.”

Watch the video to step inside Fabrica Bhering, and browse the street art-inspired wares at Homegrown.