Art Vacations in Costa Rica

Costa Rica has quietly been growing in the art world, but in recent years there has been even more of a developing art community.
While Costa Rica is located in an area that is heavily influenced by Pre-Columbia art, artists that are indigenous and those that have
elected to move to Costa Rica are producing new and exciting works of art. For them it is a world of art where they are breaking
new ground.

There are more than enough museums in the capital of Costa Rica, San Jose. But there are no real "art" museums yet. One way of
showing what their artist's have is in the artists themselves displaying there art in their own environments, their homes. There is a
tour that takes you to 5 or 6 artist's homes in a day's tour, and you get a chance to really experience the their work. You get to actually
talk to the artist and find out their process for their art. If you are a creative person this can be a real inspiration.

Another tour is given by a fellow Art Journalist, Jan Yatsko. I have always kept a journal but when I discovered art journaling my creativity
bumped up a notch. One type of art journal is a travel journal. Travel journals are also much like scrapbooks but you use the bits and
pieces of your trip on you pages and write around them. Photos are used a great deal in travel journaling, of course.

Jan's tours are quite different. She takes you into the jungle and shows you the beauty of Costa Rica and you make your own art. The
flora and fauna of Costa Rica are amazing and slapping paint around in bright colors is great fun. Mind you, this is not for everyone, but
for those with an artistic nature this might be right up your alley. Jan teaches you portability in your art journaling kit and she has 8 years
of experience in biking in and around Costa Rica. She takes you to beautiful locations to show you amazing things to draw and paint.

If you are not into actually "doing" art yourself, but are and art lover, there are offerings in the way of museums in San Jose. The Costa
Rican Art Museum in San Jose is actually housed in the building that used to be the city's airport. It must make for a very interesting museum.
There is also the Museo De Oro Pre-Colombino, which translated means Museum of Pre-Columbian Gold. This has a display of gold sculpted
and rendered into beautiful pieces and presented in a fascinating show.

If it interests you there is a coin museum in the INS building, but that doesn't really float my boat. There is a Contemporary Art Museum
showing local artist's work as well as a Children's museum that is quite large and will take up a lot of kid time if you need it. There is also
an insect museum, a snake exhibit, and finally a crime museum.

There is also wonderful indigenous art. If you go to www.galerianamu.com/map/ you will find a map of all of the tribes indigenous to Costa
Rica. This map will show you the tribes local to the area of Costa Rica you will be visiting. I encourage you to look at their art and get your
own piece of original Costa Rican Tribal art to take back home with you.

If you are looking to have a truly unique experience, stay for at least a day at the Finca Rosa Blanca. The owners, Glenn and Teri Jampol
have created an artful environment. The architecture and décor is whimsical and the service is remarkable. Glenn is an artist himself and
might discuss art with you. Each of the rooms is original and different from the others and comes with Jacuzzis and balconies.

It is said that no window is square in the hotel and art treasures from around the world are to be found everywhere. The food provided
is a 4-course dinner and it runs about $37 per person. While this is vastly more expensive than any other dinner venue it seems to be
worth it in this environment. Throw caution to the wind and treat yourself to a dinner or two at Finca Rosa Blanca Inn.