Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes Franklin Rawson

The Franklin Rawson Museum of Fine Arts, a museum dedicated to the conservation, acquisition, exhibition, and promotion of cultural heritage, houses one of Argentina’s most significant art collections.

Its acquisition policy has been essential to the consolidation of the collection, demonstrating a commitment to documenting regional, national, and transnational visual arts. In addition to enriching and updating the institution’s heritage, it has also reinforced initiatives for work and reflection that position the museum as a cultural mediator between community, territory, and heritage.

As such, the museum serves as a guardian of modern and contemporary expressions of national and international art, with one of its primary goals being its consolidation and recognition on a global scale. This has stimulated the work of contemporary artists, educators, and researchers and has, in turn, strengthened the avant-garde work with a federal focus that the museum has been carrying out. Likewise, as a cultural space, the museum has sought to innovate and create visitor-centered museum experiences that promote an interactive environment, thereby offering educational and formative museography to the community.

Name of the director of the institution: Emanuel Diaz Ruiz

Name of the practice, initiative, or program nominated: Vacacionarte

Name and position of the professional who leads the practice: María Elena Mariel ( Área Educación MPBAFR)

Describe the practice, program, or project, what innovative approach is proposed, and in which core museum activities it applies: conservation, education, collection, exhibition programs, publications, research, accessibility, communication, governance, and sustainability.

The Vacacionarte program is an art camp designed for young children and teenagers, and has been running continuously for 18 years. Each year, the program has attracted more than 500 children and generated 30 jobs for cultural professionals.

Its main objective is to establish itself as a fully inclusive experience that promotes creativity through experimentation and the creation of artistic works, as well as interaction with the museum’s collection, using playful and educational activities.

Recently, the program has been expanded to include adults and seniors,

seeking to broaden participation from a more inclusive perspective, as well as to foster a broader vision of art and its various artistic languages.

Through knowledge and interaction with the museum’s collection—where play and learning go hand in hand—the community has not only gained greater accessibility—often a point of contention regarding museum institutions—but also more active participation. This has motivated the museum to (re)define itself as a museum-school, disrupting the museum canon and driving initiatives that continually strengthen its ties to the local community and its role as a cultural mediator between the community and heritage.

Explain in one sentence why you think the project you nominate is outstanding and could serve as an example for the entire community of modern and contemporary art museums.

This is a pioneering program in Argentina whose format has not been replicated elsewhere in the country and which, in turn, has fostered closer interaction between the community and the heritage site and museum, with the latter addressing the diverse needs of the region.

Explain why this practice or program is relevant and sustainable in creating meaningful and lasting connections with people, communities, and the museum context with a medium to long-term vision.

This is because it strengthens the interaction between the museum—as a cultural space—and the community, so that the viewing public breaks free from the passive role in which it has been confined over time and assumes an active one. By focusing on the local context and concrete actions in which both the museum institution and the community participate, we can glimpse the development of a more democratic and federal culture, as well as the emergence of identity-building projects that are not indifferent to the evolution of the space, history, and community. This leads to the construction of a network of participatory spaces where diverse activities converge, featuring the active presence of audiences from different socio-cultural contexts and with varied needs. This reflects the impact generated by such work and how the museum has found a field of action open to new concepts, continually reinventing itself.

What are the outcomes of the practice you are most proud of?

Over the years that the Vacacionarte program has been in operation, the results achieved have shown a steadily increasing turnout for the workshops offered. What began as a project for young children and adolescents later expanded to include adults and seniors, with the aim of broadening the range of activities and reaching the entire community, in accordance with the needs of different areas within the region. As a program of workshops designed to stimulate creativity through various artistic disciplines, it is noteworthy how it has fostered a broader vision of art, encompassing its diverse languages as well as various forms of expression and creation.

How has the nominated practice changed your methods and ways of working?

Each edition of the Vacacionarte program has presented a new challenge, where interaction with an increasingly diverse audience has fostered reflection and the exploration of new perspectives on art, its social and cultural role, as well as the various artistic disciplines. The planning and development of strategies as innovative tools to continue promoting the program and expanding its reach across the region highlight the constant challenge we face, not only as an institution but also as a community. This leads us to rethink our role as active facilitators, guided by a cross-cutting perspective on identity, culture, and democratization, with the aim of strengthening a network of participation and outreach that is increasingly nationwide.

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