Esta ley ordena al Departamento de Educación, en colaboración con el Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, a ofrecer cursos de artesanía puertorriqueña como parte del Programa Escuela Abierta. Los cursos deben fomentar el uso de materiales sostenibles y se implementarán a través de programas piloto en varias escuelas.
| (A. B. 2363) | |
|---|---|
| (B. C. 458) |
(Approved September 23, 2004)
To direct the Department of Education, with the cooperation of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, to offer courses in Puerto Rican artisanry as part of the Open School Program.
Culture is the element that defines us and that makes us unique and valuable before the world culture. It is precisely, our identity that allows the Puerto Rican people to make ourselves known in the world.
The public policy of the current public administration, collected in the Puerto Rico Project for the 21st Century (page 209), advocates the respect and appreciation of our cultural values, our traditions, the important contributions of our artists, the production of our artisans, and our historical patrimony.
Puerto Rico is proud and honored with the work and efforts exerted by enumerable fellow citizens to protect, conserve and disseminate the values and traditions that distinguish us as a people. In fact, the activity of our local artisans has been recognized as one of the essential vehicles for displaying our particular cultural expression. This traditional form has disclosed before the eyes of the world the excellence of Puerto Rican artistic creativity, which is nurtured primarily by the natural beauty that embellishes our lovely Island and the social, cultural and religious experiences that have shaped these
outstanding Puerto Ricans. The work of an artisan basically encompasses the creation of handcrafted, usually decorative pieces or commonly used objects that are made with little machinery intervention. The following are some expressions of artisanry: pottery, ceramics, basket-weaving, glassware, glyptics, cabinetmaking, marquetry, mosaics, gold or silver work, upholstery, and stainedglass windows, among others.
In view of the urgent interest of the present public administration in the preservation, development and advancement of our cultural activities, among them the practice of artisanry, it is vitally important to design alternatives, such as this one, that seek to introduce our future generation from its early years, to the cultural activity that has shaped our history and shall shape our future, and nothing could be better than to do so through our public education system.
Section 1.- The Department of Education is hereby directed to offer courses in Puerto Rican artisanry as part of the Open School Program.
Such courses shall foster the use of diverse materials, especially those that seek to protect the environment, such as those obtained from the practice of recycling and reuse.
Section 2.- The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture shall offer to the Department of Education all the cooperation and advice necessary for complying with the objectives of this Act.
The Department of Education, in coordination with the Popular Arts Research Center and the Popular Arts Program of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, shall prepare a curriculum that shall serve as guide for the following offerings:
(1) wood carving; (2) musical instruments; (3) masks; (4) toy-making; (5) needlework; (6) artisan jewelry; (7) hammock-making; (8) ceramics; (9) basket-weaving; (10) leather, higuera (calabash), coconut and bamboo work; and (11) any other skills related to the objectives of this Act.
For recruitment purposes, the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture shall remit a list of bona fide artisans indicating their mailing address and telephone number to the Department of Education no later than June $1^{ ext {st }}$ of each year.
Section 3.- The Department of Education shall implement this Act through pilot programs it shall develop in several schools of the various school regions.
Section 4.- This Act shall take effect after July 1, 2004.
I hereby certify to the Secretary of State that the following Act No. 458 (S.B. 2363) of the $7^{ ext {th }}$ Session of the $14^{ ext {th }}$ Legislature of Puerto Rico:
AN ACT to direct the Department of Education, with the cooperation of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, to offer courses in Puerto Rican artisanry as part of the Open School Program, has been translated from Spanish to English and that the English version is correct.
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, today $29^{ ext {th }}$ of May of 2007.
Francisco J. Domenech Director