LA ESCUELA___: The School as Practice and Place is a bilingual (Spanish/English) hybrid publication and toolkit that documents and amplifies the work of the experimental pedagogical platform LA ESCUELA___ across Latin America, the Caribbean, and their diasporas. Rooted in the programmatic work the platform has developed since 2022 (35 projects in 13 countries; 5,000+ participants; collaboration with 300+ artists and thinkers), the book is conceived not as a catalogue but as a living statement and practical resource, with illustrated case studies, critical essays, and modular toolkits for educators, artists, and community organizers to adapt participatory, place‑based pedagogies. The project intersects architecture, pedagogy, public space, and creative civic practice. The book circulates Latin America’s experimental educational practices into global discourse and provides practical resources for on-the-ground implementation.

LA ESCUELA___ is a transdisciplinary platform that operates as an international network of artist-run practices and collaborative-based educational models. It approaches education as an artistic practice and art as a pedagogical process. Jointly founded and developed by the artist and educator Miguel Braceli and the international foundation Siemens Stiftung, it advocates for open access to art and education, situates learning within real-life contexts, and responds to current social and ecological challenges through context-based creative practices. Since 2021, LA ESCUELA___ has fostered learning spaces across Latin America and the Caribbean by partnering with universities and institutions such as Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires and Pinacoteca de São Paulo and working in collaboration with over 300 artists and thinkers from 25 countries. In 2025, the platform expanded its programs into the United States with a new nonprofit initiative and an exhibition at MoMA PS1.

Miguel Braceli is an interdisciplinary artist working at the intersection of art, architecture, and social practices. His practice centers on participatory projects in public spaces, exploring both geopolitical and local conflicts through large-scale works. Braceli has presented performances, exhibitions, and educational projects in collaboration with renowned institutions such as MoMA PS1, Documenta 15, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, New York University, with the Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Matadero Madrid, Museo Moderno de Buenos Aires, Athr Foundation, the Untitled Art Fair, and Pace Gallery. He has participated in residencies and programs, including MacDowell (2023), Fountainhead (2023), Skowhegan School of Painting (2022), Art Omi (2021), and McColl Center for Art (2020). Braceli’s recent recognitions include being a Fulbright Scholar (2019–20) and the Tulsa Artist Fellowship Award (2024–26). In 2022, he received a commission from the Percent for Art program to create a permanent large-scale public artwork in New York City.

Juliana Steiner is an independent curator and researcher interested in interdisciplinary practices in contemporary art that incorporate social sciences, pedagogy, and architecture. Her research focuses on more-than-human species, environmental justice, and the transformations of landscapes. In 2023–24, she curated the Network Project in Colombia, as part of the Common Ground Biennial at Bard College, resulting in a program and publication called Ecotone: Chagras, Payasos and Camellones (Center for Human Rights and the Arts, Bard College, 2025). She is the cofounder and artistic director of La Reserva Guatoc, a multidisciplinary residency in Barichara, Colombia, that seeks to create critical thinking through experimental forms in a cross-territorial dialogue between Latin America and the Caribbean. She also cofounded Espacio Odeón, a contemporary arts center housed in an abandoned landmark movie theater in Bogotá’s city center. She holds a bachelor of fine arts in visual arts and a bachelor of arts in business management from Universidad de Los Andes and an Master of Art in art administration from New York University.

LA ESCUELA___, founded in 2021, is a nonprofit organization advocating for accessible art and education experiences rooted in collaborative, context-based practices. The goal is to deepen our collective understanding of ancestral and contemporary knowledge of artistic methodologies, social practices, and alternative educational models from Latin America, the Caribbean, their diasporas, and Latinx communities. LA ESCUELA___ aims to amplify their contemporary legacies and collaborative practices, stimulating new connections within a wider geographical and cultural field. To this end, LA ESCUELA___ fosters free spaces for collective learning in public spaces through socially engaged projects, public programs, research, and editorial content that responds to current social and ecological challenges in art and architecture.