Marlon Davila, a Guatemalan artist residing in NJ, will teach art classes to 40 primary and middle school students in Cajola. The classes will introduce art history, artists with different styles, and painting techniques such as composition, drawing and mixing colors. Each student will complete four paintings followed by an exhibition of their work. With no active art curriculum in the public schools, this immersion in art will strengthen their academic achievement, self-esteem, and creativity.
Art is recognized for its importance in developing creativity, critical thinking, self-expression, and academic achievement. Although Guatemalas Education Curriculum calls for art education, Cajolas public schools lack the resources to teach art. Marlon Davila painted a mural in the Town Hall in 2025 with enthusiastic student volunteers from INEB middle school. During their time with Marlon they expressed their strong desires to learn more about art, how to mix colors, how to paint.
The art classes will be a first step for the students to explore their interest in painting. They will acquire skills to be able to practice on their own by learning composition, drawing, and color theory. They will learn about painting in the context of art history and will have been exposed to various styles of painting through exposure to various artists. They will develop confidence in their art and will seek more training and exposure.
The success of the project would indicate Grupo Cajola should decide to create a more permanent experience to be able to reach more students. Art is already included the curriculum of the New Community School project, but the success of this project could lead to establishing a more permanent art school. Either way, art has been shown clearly to contribute to academic achievement and social and emotional development and the students who participate will benefit from these proven results for the
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
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