Chile celebrates Art Education Week 2024

In Chile, Art Education Week (SEA) is organized by UNESCO's Multisectoral Regional Office in Santiago; the Ministry of Cultures, Arts, and Heritage; the Ministry of Education; Balmaceda Arte Joven; the University of Chile; and the Foundation for Youth and Children's Orchestras. Each year, various groups join the initiative, organizing activities and registering them on the SEA website.

For its twelfth edition, from 13 to 19 May, Art Education Week (SEA) carries the motto "Sharing the joy of creating." The call is to celebrate collective creation, to develop experiences that foster sensitive and supportive communities, and contribute to creating environments of empathy and collaboration. This continues the biennial cycle opened in 2023, focused on the contributions of the arts to coexistence and strengthening community ties.

In 2024, the SEA highlights the careers of four teachers who have made significant contributions to Art Education for children and young people in the country: Dora Águila (Metropolitan Region), a professor of art didactics for many generations of teachers and creator of Educarte; Olivia Concha (Coquimbo Region), a music teacher and trainer of teachers, particularly preschool educators; Américo Giusti (Biobío Region), an orchestra conductor and founder of the Liceo de Curanilahue Orchestra; and Joel Maripil (Araucanía Region), a Lafquenche culture bearer and educator.

"Every year during the month of May, a series of activities are held throughout the country, which aim to reaffirm the importance of artistic practices and education through the arts, both within the school context and in various training settings," states Carolina Arredondo, the Minister of Cultures, Arts, and Heritage. She adds: "SEA also seeks to develop collaborative partnerships among various stakeholders that make up the ecosystem of Art Education, promoting the development of projects and experiences that expand the educational space beyond the classroom and that are culturally relevant."

"Art Education Week invites us to deepen ways of relationship and collective meaning at different levels and spaces, particularly in school communities. SEA 2024 takes on the task of addressing good coexistence through the practices, ways of doing, and thinking of the arts," emphasizes Esther Kuisch Laroche, director of UNESCO's Multisectoral Regional Office in Santiago.

The main event of Art Education Week (SEA) 2024 will be the International Meeting on Education, Art, and Culture, which will take place from 14 to 16 May at the Gabriela Mistral Cultural Center (GAM). This event will showcase national and international experiences across four thematic panels: "The relevance of the arts in educational projects," "Characteristics of early artistic training in and with the arts," "Experiences of situated art education," and "Networks of collaboration and sustainability." Additionally, there will be discussions about experiences, workshops, and activities for a broad audience, especially children, in the Fabriela Mistral Centre (GAM) Plaza, highlighting the importance of art in public spaces. The Meeting will conclude with a concert by the Fundación de Orquestas Juveniles e Infantiles de Chile (FOJI) Percussion Ensemble.

Joining Art Education Week (SEA) 2024, on Saturdays 18 and 25 May, from 7 am to 2 pm, a Special on Art Education will be broadcast on Uchile TV, accessible for free on nationwide terrestrial TV.

As part of Art Education Week, Balmaceda Arte Joven (BAJ), Rock al Patio, and Teatro Nescafé de las Artes will celebrate on 24 May, from 10:30 am, at the said theatre, with the "Arte al Patio Meeting: Can Art Transform Education?" This event will provide a space for dialogue with musical performances by prominent artists alongside talented school bands, panels, and discussions. Days later, on 4 June, BAJ will release two digital publications that discuss its model of artistic training.

As a part of Art Education Week, the Subsecretariat of Early Childhood Education of the Ministry of Education, together with the Subdirectorate of Museums, will hold the IV Seminar on Art, Heritage, and Childhood on 6 June at the Museo Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna. Additionally, joining SEA 2024, the University of Chile, through its Vice-Rectory for Research and Development and its Directorate of Artistic Creation (DiCREA), will conduct the VI Seminar on Research in Arts and Education on 18 July at the university's main campus.