Art on wheels is a community-based initiative that seeks to bring art and culture to the communities of Monteverde, especially those with limited access to creative spaces.
The project uses a converted bus as an artistic space, located in La Lindora of Santa Elena, where free recreational activities and workshops are offered to children, youth, and adults. In addition, it conducts monthly outreach visits to rural communities, bringing artistic experiences directly to populations with fewer opportunities for access.
Its purpose is to foster creativity, inclusion, and cultural participation, while strengthening community identity and promoting art as a tool for personal development, social cohesion, and prevention among vulnerable populations.
During the 2022–2023 and 2024–2025 periods, Art on wheels was a recipient of the Seed Capital for Community-led Projects program, funded by the Coffee Tour Alliance under the Society, Culture, and Youth category. This process significantly strengthened their capacities, enabling them to learn how to apply for competitive national and international funding opportunities.
Thanks to the support of the Monteverde Community Fund, it was possible to furnish and equip the workshop with furniture, tools, and art supplies. During its implementation, bi-weekly workshops were held in the space, along with visits to different communities, expanding opportunities for access to art.
In 2023, the visits to different communities reached more than 1,200 participants. In subsequent years, overall participation decreased as some of the work was concentrated in the La Lindora community. However, the mobile workshops maintained an excellent response. The workshops on the bus, in particular, worked especially well when transportation was available for participants, demonstrating that the main barrier is access to transportation (an existing problem in the community) and not a lack of interest.
This learning allowed for a clearer definition of the next step: to further strengthen the mobile capacity, with the vision of eventually having a bus that can travel directly to the communities. In the meantime, the bus remains permanently in La Lindora because it is not roadworthy, it has become a vital base for storing materials, hosting groups, and conducting workshops with the community, schools, and partner organizations.
The project also fostered stronger partnerships with educational and community organizations, including new collaborative opportunities with CIEE and the Monteverde Institute. These partnerships contribute to sustainability through private workshops for educational groups and companies, the proceeds of which support the maintenance of the space, the replacement of materials, and the funding of community activities.
Beyond the quantitative results, the greatest impact lies in the opportunities created: children discovering new ways to express themselves, young people participating in activities designed around their own interests, families creating together, and communities receiving art directly in their territory.
Currently, Art on wheels is one of the local affiliated organizations in our program, to which we provide administrative support. As a result of their capacity-building process, they successfully secured funding from Costa Rica’s Ministry of Culture and Youth, allowing them to continue bringing art to the communities of Monteverde and surrounding areas. We support their administrative management so they can focus on fulfilling their mission.
