Eastcape artists and the art festival in Los Barriles, art programs for the schools in the East Cape.
History
In February, 1992, a small group of residents in the East Cape region of Baja California Sur, Mexico formed a committee to organize a spring "Festival de Artes". The purpose of the event was to give local artists an opportunity to show and sell their original work and to raise money to support art programs in the schools. Twenty four artists attended with their original work. Two hundred and fifty members of the community came to enjoy the event. At the end of the day, $2,500 pesos had been raised to purchase art supplies for the Los Barriles Elementary School. It was a modest but encouraging beginning.
The spring "Festival de Artes" grew over the years, attracting artists and visitors from Los Cabos and La Paz. By 1998 the number of artists had tripled and the number of visitors had climbed to over 1,500. Funds earned by the event were now able to buy more art supplies for the schools. In 1999 the committee decided to form a private Mexican non-profit organization (an Asociación Civil) and establish a formal Board of Directors. The "Asociación de Artes del Mar de Cortez A.C." now commonly known as East Cape Arts has been developing programs for the benefit of East Cape communities along the Sea of Cortez ever since.
