ARTecho: LATIN AMERICAN ARTISTS JOIN UN TECHO PARA MI PAIS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST POVERTY DURING ART BASEL

ARTecho, an event created by Un Techo para mi País (TECHO), a nonprofit organization led by university students and young professionals that works to eradicate extreme poverty in Latin America, was held last night. TECHO invited 19 leading Latin American artists, from 10 different countries, to render a 16 x 8 inch scale model of the transitional houses built by the NGO. The result: 19 works of art. The art pieces will be exhibited and auctioned to raise funds to build houses for the most excluded families in the continent. This is a different proposal for Art Basel, where art collectors can see renowned artists working in a different context and with a diverse purpose.

On November 28th a reception was held at Wynwood Walls, a fashionable venue in Miami’s “Design District.” This was the first time the 19 houses were exhibited. Business leaders from the Miami community were present to supportTECHO. The event included Felipe Viel (Telefutura) as host, who encouraged the public to make their first offers. The ARTecho exhibition included house intervened by Argentineans Jorge Macchi, Marta Minujín, Leandro Erlich, Liliana Porter, Amalia Pica and Agustina Woodgate; Brazilian Rosana Ricalde; Chileans Iván Navarro, Magdalena Atria, and Josefina Guilisasti; Colombian Miler Lagos; Guatemalan Darío Escobar; Uruguayans Marta Chilindrón and Ana Tiscornia; Venezuelan Emilia Azcárate; Puerto Rican Karlo Andrei Ibarra; Cubans Enrique Martínez Celaya and Ernesto Oroza, and American Robert Chambers. Diego Costa Peuser (Art Day/PINTA Art Show) is the Art Director of ARTecho.

Ella Fontanals-Cisneros, Rosa de la Cruz, Solita Mishaan, Isaac Lee, Eduardo Costantini and Violy McCausland, among others form the Host Committee. Eduardo Padrón, president of Miami Dade College, also part of the Committee stated, “ARTecho is more than just art for the sake of beauty. It is art with a social conscience. It is a wonderful idea using beauty as a call to action for much needed basic housing.”

ASSIST-CARD was the main sponsor of ARTecho, while Porsche and The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation also supported the event. The 19 pieces reflect different worldviews. Inequality in access to resources, willingness to double their support efforts, mobilization of civil society, and outrage of the injustice of poverty, are some of the issues addressed by the art pieces.

The exhibition will be on display on November 29^th and 30^th at Gary Nader’s Fine Art Gallery. The auction of the pieces will take place on December 1^st at 5:00 pm at the same location. All proceeds will benefit the foundation, Un Techo Para Mi País.