Talleres Comunitarios en las 8 Regiones de Nuestro Estado
Taller de Artes Plásticas Rufino Tamayo Instituto Oaxaqueño de las Culturas

Students proudly display their art.

Photo: Talleres Comunitarios Staff

Rufino Tamayo is a well known Latin American visual artist. His legacy is a substantial body of work that masterfully uses colors and textures. It also includes a school of art in Oaxaca, Mexico, that bears his name, Taller de Artes Plásticas Rufino Tamayo (Rufino Tamayo Plastic Arts Workshop). The city government runs the school, which is supported by the National Institute of Fine Arts.

Oaxaca, however, is not the only place where the visual arts flourish. Traditional Mexican arts and crafts also thrive in villages within the surrounding Central Valleys. "Each region of this area expresses itself differently, using different colors and media," notes Juan Alcázar, co-founder and executive director of Taller de Artes Plásticas. "It is important that we keep these differences alive and celebrate them."

This conviction, shared by many others, led to the establishment of visual arts workshops for young people. Since 1997, Talleres Comunitarios en las 8 Regiones de Nuestro Estado (Community Workshops in the 8 Regions of Our State) has enabled 30-40 young people in each of the eight surrounding communities to receive free lessons in painting and drawing for 20 consecutive days, two or three times a year. Some participants learn papermaking and engraving. Students' projects reflect the collective cultural history of their communities. At the conclusion of each Workshop, these young artists' creations are featured in an exhibition for their community.

The artist-teachers are Workshop "graduates" who have gone on to study at Taller de Artes Plásticas for a minimum of two years and remain in close contact with the school. To enrich the experience of both teachers and students, the instructors do not teach in the communities where they grew up.

The success of the Workshops is due to a partnership effort. While Taller de Artes Plásticas shapes the creative content of the Workshops, local public cultural and municipal authorities organize and advertise them. The authorities reach out to children and their parents by using loudspeakers in the schools or in the city hall, posters, and flyers. They also provide Workshop sites and coordinate room and board for the instructors; sometimes, teachers live with local families.

These Workshops are especially valuable since the schools in these regions offer little arts instruction. And because of this educational, cultural, and municipal partnership, opportunities are expanding for children.