The Art Scene of Loja Ecuador

VENUE - Pittura-Galería Café Restaurant Rotating art displays in a relaxed atmosphere - we suggest following their Facebook page to keep current on the artists and events. Enjoy a meal or just a cup of coffee, or a glass of beer or wine, while deciding which artwork would look great hanging in your own home. Interior decor by artist/designer  Bayardo Cuenca . An added plus is the restaurant owner speaks very good English. Typical open hours: 8 am to 8 pm Phone:  +593 098 011 4200 facebook.com/Pitturagalcaffe Location: Bolivar 207-57, near the corner of Azuay

GALLERY - El Grito (The Scream) Workshop and gallery. The good folks here share their talents with classes for children. Noted for making art "affordable" for the masses by replicating and/or reducing images onto souvenirs, such as coffee mugs and t-shirts. Phone: +593 099 829 8739 Location: Olmedo 206-17, between Azuay and Miguel Riofrío

GALLERY - Galeria De Arte "Aguilar" Lots of art in one place. Majority of paintings by the owner Angel Aguilar, who offers art instruction courses for children during summer vacation from school. Reported open hours: Monday through Saturday:  8 am - 7 pm Sunday:  closed Phone:  +593 098 583-7407 email:  aguilarte58@latinmail.com Facebook messenger:   m.me/355574007808307 facebook.com/Galeria-De-ARTE-Aguilar On Lourdes, corner of Antonio José de Sucre, Loja, Ecuador

PUBLIC GALLERY - City Gate of Loja (Museo Puerta de la Ciudad) Mission statement: “To promote the arts and provide the artist with the right physical and modern space to promote the various cultural manifestations of plastic arts, through high quality traveling exhibitions.” Spread vertically over three floors are three exhibition areas. New exhibits monthly. Open hours: Monday to Friday:  8 am to 8 pm Saturdays:  9 am to 8 pm Sundays:  9 am to 7 pm Phone: +593 07-258-7122 loja.gob.ec/contenido/museo-puerta-de-la-ciudad facebook.com/pages/Puerta-de-la-Ciudad-Loja Location: The intersection of Av. Universitaria, Sucre, and 18 de Noviembre

First (of two) rooms in the gallery GALLERY - La Guadaña de la Hora Zero Gallery space, also a school for teaching art techniques to children. Artist Lilibeth Poma (Lilo) is the teacher and has a studio in the rear of the complex. Gabriel Villalta is the gallery owner. Opposite wall of the first room showing one of the hallways leading to the second gallery space Sucre (191-29) between Quito and José Félix de Valdivieso - located up the stairs on the second floor

One of many artist-built mosaics lining the interior garden walls Artist Designed House - Salinas Brothers' Compound Brothers Boris and Aquiles Salinas have constructed one of the most unique artist residences within Loja, with each adding their own special touches according to their artistic talents. Both men adhere to a philosophy of living gently on the earth, which translates into using mainly found materials for construction and decoration. Boris's pottery studio is open to the exterior, allowing nature to penetrate within. Of special note is the fact that Boris mentors numerous students by allowing them access to his studio. Adjoining the studio is a newly opened art gallery - works of art by Boris and his children are available for sale here. Aquiles's painting studio - "Iki Arte" - is located on the second floor, where the expansive windows command a great view of the southern part of Loja. Aquiles's wife and daughter are also artists in th...

Yorqui Llacxaguanga's camera-shaped house Artist Designed House - Yorqui Llacxaguanga's "Camera" A unique building and property, exhibiting extreme attention to detail and careful planning. The interior side of the garden walls are adorned with mosaics. The ground floor contains an art gallery. Throughout all three upper floors are additional works of art collected over several decades. One example of the careful planning is evident in how the windows of the first floor act like additional paintings as they frame a view of the exterior mosaics. Even the location of the property speaks to "Why a camera?" The answer is evident when exiting onto the balcony that surrounds the "flash" and the panoramic view of Loja which appears is one of the best available in the valley. One section of the garden walls, designed to look like a roll of exposed film The property is open to visitors by appointment. Contact Jonathan Poma to arrange an opp...

Monte Sueños upon approach Artist Designed House - Meredith Miller's Monte Sueños Monte Sueños, or "Mountain Dreams," is the passion project of artist Meredith Miller and her deceased husband Brian O'Leary.  Open to the public as a quest house in nearby Vilcabamba, the "new age" retreat center's publicity says it is "dedicated to the values of peace, sustainability, and the creativity of art and new science." In 2004, O'Leary and Miller purchased one hectare of land overlooking the village of Vilcabamba along with a complex of old farm buildings.  By 2011 the property had grown together into a 10-room accommodation built according to the couple's unique vision.   A view from the interior of Monte Sueños Located in Vilcabamba, Loja Provence (about 1 hour travel south of Loja city) Phone:  +593 098 812-0712 facebook.com/monte.suenos

One corner of a 2016 exhibit VENUE - Museum of Archaeology and Cultura Lojana (Museo de Arqueologia y Lojanidad de la UTPL) The museum offers a combination of permanent and temporary exhibitions. The large front lobby is a gallery space that hosts rotating exhibits of varying subjects, including contemporary art. Dr. Sofía Sanz, director of the Department of Architecture and Arts, main lobby Located on the campus of the Technical University of Loja (just inside the main gate on the left). The museum's mission is to rescue and promote the culture of Ecuador and Loja. Opened to the public in 2004, there is a collection of original tools and utensils of 1600 pieces of Ecuadorian archeology typical of the city and province of Loja. no website Email: gjbeltran@utpl.edu.ec Phone: +593 07 257-0275 Scheduled open hours: Monday to Sunday 9 am to 6 pm (closes for lunch) Address: San Cayetano Alto, Marcelino Chanpagnat street

A portion of the 2007 exhibit titled "The Pictorial World of Mónica Sarmiento" Museum of the Central Bank of Ecuador (Museo del Banco Central del Ecuador) Next to the governor's office at the southern end of Loja's Central Square is the old Central Bank.  The site now houses the Museum of Lojana History and Culture.  Inside the early colonial style building is an omnibus display of subjects, each exhibit gallery with a different theme ranging from archeology, nature, colonial Loja, to notable Lojanos like doctor and politician Matilde Hidalgo de Prócel, artist Eduardo Kingman, journalist and diplomat Benjamín Carrión, Ecuadorian President Isidro Ayora,  and  author Pablo Palacio.   The museum is often a visual art venue with public galleries in the front of the ground floor offering periodic displays of modern and contemporary artists.    Museum is currently closed while undergoing renovation. Located ...

Garrido gallery curator, Diego Villavicencio, with a group of students viewing  Pablo Andrés Pozo Álvarez's “The Circus” GALLERY - Sala Ángel Rubén Garrido  is the smaller of the two Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana (CCE) art galleries in Loja.  Together with its sister gallery, Sala Eduardo Kingman also on Valdivieso street (3 blocks south), the exhibition spaces carry out the cultural mission conceived by famous Lojano journalist and diplomat,  Benjamín Carrión.   On the corner of Colón and Bernardo Valdivieso Streets, and named in honor of one of the most prolific and well known local artists of the 20th century, the Ángel Rubén Garrido gallery is a hotspot of frequently changing shows highlighting up and coming talent in Loja's visual arts.  The quality of the exhibits is due to the persistence of the gallery's current curator,  Diego Villavicencio, who leaves no stone unturned in his quest to find the best new...

Children's art workshop in the main gallery GALLERY -  Sala Eduardo Kingman (Eduardo Kingman Public Art Gallery) is in the reception hall of the Pablo Palacio Auditorium in the Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana or "CCE."  The complex comprises one of two downtown Benjamín Carrión Núcleo de Loja exhibition locations, the other is the  Sala Ángel Rubén Garrido at Colón and Bernardo Valdivieso Streets. The Kingman Gallery is just north of the intersection of Bernardo Valdivieso and Rocafuerte Streets, on the west side of Valdivieso.  Diagonally across this intersection is the recently restored Bolivar theater which adjoins The Museo de la Musica, both of which host periodic public art exhibitions.  The gallery is open to the public 4 to 6 pm, Monday to Friday.    The Kingman gallery is named for one of Ecuador's most famous modern artists, Eduardo Kingman Riofio.  Kingman was a social realist painter born in Loja who first came to i...

ART VENUE - Museum - Museo de la Música.  The Museo de la Música (Music Museum) of Loja is dedicated to the history of music in the region,  but offers up its open courtyard to host rotating art exhibits, generally changing each month. The museum is the result of a consortium of entities in Loja working together since 2000 to restore the original site of the Bernardo Valdivieso (Colegio) High School: The National University of Loja, the current Bernardo Valdivieso School, The Casa de la Cultura (CCE), The Loja Symphony Orchestra, The Salvador Bustamente Celi Music Conservatory, and the "Edgar Palacios" and "Nature and Culture" foundations.    The restored building complex housing the museum includes preserved buildings of the Casona Universitaria, Teatro Bolívar, and Antiguo Colegio Bernardo Valdivieso.  The museum is located on Valdivieso Street in the home of, and then school named for, Bernardo ...

You will find art on all three floors - in hallways, common areas, and bedrooms! Foreground sculpture by Bayardo Cuenca. ART VENUE - Boutique  Hotel  -  La Casa de Manuel.  It makes perfect sense that Loja, touted as the arts capital of Ecuador, would have an art hotel of its very own.   La Casa de Manuel's interior is very much what you would expect to see in the arts section of Toronto, or Chelsea in NYC, where some of the first art hotels came to life.  The small independent hotels around the world are decorated with works of contemporary artists, often with a different room devoted to each.  The edgiest of these is an art hotel in Palestine decorated by famously elusive graffiti artist Banksy. La Casa de Manuel is a reclaimed antique building with a sweeping four story atrium.  The rooms are arrayed around the atrium perimeter, which is pleasantly filled with contemporary works of local artists, and a blend of old and new furn...

GALLERY - Madriguera Café - Art Shop.  This delightful hybrid cafe - art shop - gallery is a beehive of activity located on Loja's historic Lourdes Street. Lourdes, a one-time tourist mecca, is transforming itself into an alternative arts and dining destination after converting to a pedestrian mall as part of the recent grand re-design and renovation of Loja's streets and sidewalks. With his partners, Madriguera is overseen by energetic young printmaker and graphic designer,  Luis Miguel Cisneros Galindo . The pocket-sized gallery and shop with coffee bar has a constant program of exhibitions, music, small theater, and classes, hosted by the best emerging artists, performers, and musicians in the city. Worth a visit. Luis will banter with you in English while disarming you with his infectious smile.  Visit the gallery and gift shop  on Lourdes Street between Bolivar and Sucre in  Loja, Ecuador, or contact them at: +593 098 786 4861 madriguera.c...