A week after the start of the contingency in 2020, painting classes for the girls and adolescents of the Dominican Sisters-run Santa Julia Don Bosco Orphanage began. Currently more than 60 of these works are exhibited at the restaurant Los Milagros Terraza. The exhibit will run through November 3, 2021.

 

At the opening, Director María Isabel Hernández Rodríguez spoke. She indicated that the orphanage has a total of 26 girls and adolescents; the youngest is four years old and the oldest is 17. Regarding the works that are for sale, she indicated that half of the income will go “for the girls to buy something they want, while the rest will be reinvested in material, and classes provided by Professor Víctor Espinosa.” Espinosa mentioned that after the school where she had worked closed, she contacted the Sisters and began teaching at the orphanage.

 

The Sisters were attracted by the idea that the girls could work on techniques such as chalk pastel, charcoal, gel pens, acrylics, watercolors, and oils. Even the Sisters have participated in the painting classes, although their work will not be on display. After almost a year and a half, 60 pieces that have been curated are being shown at the exhibit.

 

Espinosa is aware that not all the girls who live in the house want to dedicate themselves to painting, but they do “introspection and heal the soul through this art. They get to know each other, they explore their creativity, and here is the result,” he commented.