The URJC brings cultural and artistic heritage closer to the little ones

The project "Art and Heritage in schools” will highlight the scientific and educational work of URJC history teachers. The objective is to encourage curiosity and knowledge about historic gardens through pictorial works from the Prado Museum. This initiative has the collaboration of the Yeduhi Menuhin Spain Foundation and the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology.

Irene Vega

The main objective of the "Art and Heritage in Schools" project is to make society aware of itself as an active part in the conservation, enjoyment and dissemination of heritage. The project will be carried out at the CEIP Francisco de Goya in Madrid with students in the first and sixth years of Primary Education, between October 3 and November 28, 2018. The URJC teacher Félix Labrador and the support technician for the research Manuel Álvaro Mora will be in charge of directing the workshops and will have the collaboration of Paca Vázquez, an artist from the Yehudi Menuhin Spain Foundation. “Cultural and artistic heritage is something subjective and alive. It evolves over time and society is the one who determines what goods must be conserved and protected for posterity, based on the values it attributes to them”, highlights Félix Labrador. “This is a continuity project. An extension that is not only cultural and educational, but also seeks an art channel that is shown as a true expression. A polyphonic map that unites the perspectives relating them to art, to learning. Moving in different dimensions, this time focusing on the historic gardens, the royal gardens”, adds the URJC professor.

The activities planned for the different sessions will focus on historical gardens through, mainly, painting in the Prado Museum. “Starting from curiosity, we will enter the game and participation. We will work with different plastic works that are represented in the museum”, explains Félix Labrador.

The enhancement of unique places such as the Royal Sites would allow students to understand the importance of recovering a common past and its cultural and historical wealth. In addition, they will have the opportunity to share ideas, work in groups and develop creativity.

Education and scientific dissemination come together in the same project

This “Art and Heritage in Schools” initiative is part of the international project “Campo dei Miracoli”, within the Erasmus+ program in which the URJC participates, as well as the project “The Heritage of Royal Sites”, financed by the Community of Madrid and the European Social Fund. The different sessions that are going to take place at the Francisco de Goya center in Madrid and have the support of the URJC Unit for Scientific Culture and Innovation and the collaboration of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology, dependent on the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.

"Education plays a fundamental role in the dissemination and understanding of heritage from a holistic view, within the historical and social context on which its value is based," says Félix Labrador. In this sense, this project opens new avenues of research and interdisciplinary work around the way of communicating and disseminating heritage, "pointing out interesting synergies between the different areas that affect the understanding of that heritage: architecture, art, history, society , politics or geography”, adds the URJC professor.