LA ESCUELA___
An art platform for radical learning in public space
LA ESCUELA___ is both an art project and an art school. With no roof and no walls, the school leaves the framework of familiar institutions and addresses the social realities that surround it. The LA ESCUELA___ program is a hybrid one: Collaborative learning communities in public space are created through art actions in Latin American cities and a dedicated online platform.
LA ESCUELA___, Spanish for “The School”, works with art as a form of knowledge production, and with education as artistic practice. It is structured in three parts: online, there are labs, lectures, and discussions to address social, political, and environmental issues across the artistic fields. In specific sites, artists, students, and local communities come together in public space to generate new knowledge with participatory art actions. The third part of the school is a growing, bilingual web platform about experimental educational practices in Latin America’s art scene – both in history and in the present.
Concept
Rethinking school
In programmatic terms, the artist-run school places itself in a tradition of Latin American approaches for which it seeks to offer a platform: a school of many schools; constant reflection upon the idea of the school as a space of possibilities. By providing free, open access, the project responds to inequality in the education system and attempts to actively link educational institutions in the arts with the social reality of their environment.
Program
Semester program and participating artists
Over two semesters each year, LA ESCUELA___ makes learning spaces available free to everyone, with a focus on the visual arts, performing arts, performance, and architecture.
School as a space of opportunity
In the video you will learn more about LA ESCUELA___ and the idea of school as a space of opportunity.
Partners
LA ESCUELA___ is a founding initiative of Miguel Braceli and Siemens Stiftung. In his research, the artist and architect addresses requests for open education through art and calls for learning in art to be brought closer to social reality.
The projects are realized in cooperation with partners in each country:
Ciudad Abierta (Chile), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaiso (Chile), MUAC Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Universitario Mexiko, UNAM – Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexiko, Museo Experimental El Eco (Mexiko), Goethe-Institut Venezuela, Universidad Simón Bolívar Caracas (Venezuela), Universidad de los Andes Mérida (Venezuela), Universidad Central de Venezuela
»Hydrocommons Cultures«
As part of the art platform LA ESCUELA___, a publication is being
produced with projects and essays from the fields of art and education
that shine light on the importance of water and social and ecological
challenges that come with it in Latin America.
Would you like to work with us? Or do you have any questions?
Project Manager LA
Joachim Gerstmeier
joachim.gerstmeier@siemens-stiftung.org
Links
Find out more about our international cultural projects!
Climate Change Education in focus at Climate Week NYC 2025
- The Office for Climate Change and Siemens Stiftung will host the roundtable: “Unlocking the transformative power of climate change education: Investing in youth, teachers, and skills for a changing world” on September, 22.
WeTu Impact Report 2024
- Founded by Siemens Stiftung, the social enterprise WeTu develops innovative solutions for clean water, e-mobility, renewable energy, cooling, and recycling around Lake Victoria. The 2024 Impact Report shows how these initiatives promote health, secure incomes, protect the climate, and sustainably improve the lives of thousands of people.