The Arts for Peace Program has arrived in the region! This educational, artistic, and cultural strategy, led by the Ministry of Culture, Arts, and Knowledge, in partnership with the Industrial University of Santander (UIS), has already begun planning, training, and implementation activities in targeted educational establishments with the presence of territorial management teams and artist trainers.
Artes Para la Paz aims to bring educational opportunities and classes in music, dance, theater, creative writing, and audiovisual arts to more than 70,500 children, adolescents, and young adults. The program will be implemented in Region 6, which comprises the departments of Boyacá, Cesar, Norte de Santander, and Santander. It will reach 133 municipalities that have Territorially Focused Development Programs (PDET) and 433 educational establishments located in Areas Affected by Armed Conflict (ZOMAC) or in scattered rural areas.
The director of the program on behalf of the UIS, Angélica Mora Dionisio, explained that prior to the arrival of the University in each of the regions, a preparation stage was carried out with the territorial management teams, made up of 100 professionals from different areas, who were briefed on safety and security protocols in order to ensure smooth entry into the educational establishments.
After that, Mora Dionisio continued, the first meeting between the University and the schools took place to sign an agreement of intent or coverage pact, which establishes the commitments of the UIS and the educational institution to achieve comprehensive implementation of the strategy and promote the desired positive impact on the beneficiaries. Once this process
is complete, more than 705 artists, trainers, and experts in different artistic disciplines will begin to offer educational sessions or classes.
“It is an honor for the university and the team that the Ministry of Culture, Arts, and Knowledge has entrusted us with this task, which carries a great responsibility due to the budgetary effort that has been made and which is undoubtedly significant for the cultural sector. We are all focused on giving our best so that the beneficiaries, those children, adolescents, and young people, find in the arts an alternative for their personal growth and, especially, find in them a promoter of cultures of peace,” said the Regional Director of the Program, Angélica Mora Dionisio.
Step by step, the artists, trainers, and experts will visit municipalities and schools to incorporate music, dance, theater, creative writing, and audiovisual arts into the academic day, providing children with this strategy that seeks to redefine school time; strengthen artistic and cultural expression; preserve identity and traditions in the diversity of the territories and their actors, and promote and generate cultures of healthy coexistence and peace from the classrooms with an impact on the communities. It is expected that by the end of August 2025, the training team will be in the classrooms teaching their classes to the students.
