Considered a “fourth bat” in art direction in the Dominican Republic, Ian Víctor is also known for his famous “bionic eye” for detecting whether things are straight, talents that today he puts in the service of Modafoca, a design, creativity, and culture agency he created in 2004 together with the artist Jorge González.

But this sort of artistic superpower, which he carries in his DNA—probably inherited from his father, the singer–songwriter Víctor Víctor—and which he developed while studying at the CHAVÓN School of Design as well as at New York’s Parsons School of Design and at the University School of Design and Engineering of Barcelona (Elisava), is complemented by a wide range of abilities that stretch from illustration and design to art direction and animation.

Beginning in 2000, Ian’s professionalism and charm have left indelible footprints on the local and international businesses with which he has worked, among them Nice, Litmedia Productions, Cumbre Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi, and the CHAVÓN School of Design.

As for CHAVÓN, his alma mater, where today he is coordinator of the Communication Design technical major, Ian confesses, “It has been the most beautiful experience to come home, and an enormous source of pride to have the opportunity to give back to CHAVÓN a little of all it has given me. Added to that is what I’ve learned from the students, not to mention the teachers, who are professionals at the highest level.”

For this creative, “The eye, the hand, and the mind are the essential tools for any designer. CHAVÓN fosters sensitivity for design, builds the skills and techniques necessary for executing an idea, and helps students assume their role as agents of change with professionalism and responsibility.

As if it were pure palmistry, the lines on Ian’s hands have a meaning that is more than clear to experts: his destiny is to support emerging artists, national and international, as he has done since Modafoca, his multidisciplinary gallery space, where he gives his backing to those who have “something different to say” graphically.He does the same at CHAVÓN, where, through the Communication Design program, he prepares hisstudents to carry the design process with them with rigor. Of this he asserts, “We believe that this is the way to develop a critical eye for imagining, evaluating, and creating holistic and innovative solutions to all types of problems.It’s time to reinvent new futures, new possibilities.” 

This enterprising man knows, through his own experience, that “a CHAVÓN graduate shines under any situation, given the rhythm and the intensity of the School, whose programs are practical and demanding.” Says this seasonedcreative, “CHAVÓN’s reputation, which everyone knows, is that it makes us resilient, adaptable, and, above all, incomparable!”

“Carmencita”, cortometraje documental de formato mixto, tesis de Nayibe Tavares-Abel, egresada de la primera promoción de la Carrera Técnica de Cine en CHAVÓN, recibió una Mención de Honor en el Trinidad y Tobago Film Festival, celebrado anualmente a finales del mes de septiembre donde se presentan cortometrajes, documentales y producciones experimentales. 

Nayibe relata que siempre le ha interesado la historia y se enamoró de los archivos familiares que guardó su prima Maricarmen Tavares: cartas de amor, fotografías, prensa, correspondencia y, por supuesto, el diario íntimo de la abuela Carmen. El corto dentro del corto, filmado en 16mm y basado en los relatos de ese diario, utilizó la forma delcine mudo a modo de homenaje a grandes maestros del cine que conoció durante la carrera: Keaton, Chaplin, Griffith, Murnau y Maya Deren. El programa de la carrera incluye prácticas en formato analógico – Super 8 y 16 mm – , luego el material esreveladopor los estudiantesen el cuarto oscuro de la escuela. Un trabajo artesanal, pasamos largas horas cargando cubetas que resultaron en el gozo enorme de descubrir las imágenes en los negativos. Con el apoyo del Archivo General de la Nación se realizó la digitalización del material. 
La pieza cuenta la historia del desamor y los celos que experimentó su bisabuela hace 100 años cuando conoció a su esposo Froilán. 

Nayibe, luego de finalizar sus dos años de estudios en CHAVÓN se ha concentrado en el desarrollo de proyectos documentales personales, para los cuales casi siempre colabora con sus compañeros de CHAVÓN, ha tenido la oportunidad de trabajar como asistente de producción en set, 3ra asistente de dirección y asistente de arte en rodajes locales de producciones dominicanas e internacionales dirigidas por Andrés Curbelo, Juan A. Bisonó, Tito Rodríguez, Diego Cohen y Pablo Chea. 

Mavel Tejeda, a graduate of the Marketing degree from the Technological Institute of Santo Domingo (INTEC), with a master’s degree in Management in Corporate Communication from EAE Business School and a double degree in Image, Advertising and Corporate Identity from the Camilo José Cela University (UCJC), She is energetic and enthusiastic in everything she does.

This professional not only has more than 10 years of experience in Consumer Goods, but also in the areas of Marketing, Communication and Advertising. In fact, he has managed iconic global brands around the Caribbean at Colgate-Palmolive, Nestlé and Unilever.

Besides focusing on brand building and development, her eyes are also on education. As she notes, her mother motivated her to teach, and as a consequence, her high standards of empowerment, responsibility, and creativity have led her to become coordinator of the Fashion Marketing and Communication technical major at the CHAVÓN School of Design, with the determined objective of ensuring inclusive and equitable training in the Dominican Republic, where she promotes learning opportunities for all men and women 

“To be a stimulus for affecting the lives of people in the fashion industry is a real challenge for me; to be a resource for promoting initiatives tied to inclusivity, diversity, and sustainability, too,” says this vivacious professional, whose hope for the coming academic year is to inject her students with energy to identify new habits of responsible consumption, with the goal of accelerating the development of the Dominican fashion industry.

This lover of excellence, accompanied by a talented team of professionals in CHAVÓN’s teaching mold, leads a new curriculum designed to offer students a solid academic program, versatile, innovative, and competitive, that will enable them to develop their business ideas while they are on their learning journey.

As for the tools Mavel brings to the formation of professionals of substance, she expects students in her major to explore the relationship between art, design, marketing, and communication; analyze the fashion industry; forecast major trends; construct brands for products and/or services; and do commercial and editorial styling. She also hopes that students will develop visual commercialization, implement winning strategies in digital media, and acquire a solid base in fashion journalism and editorial, applying themselves with an entrepreneurial spirit and an outlook founded in sustainability.

In short, for Mavel Tejeda the most important thing is thatstudents majoring in Fashion Marketing and Communication at CHAVÓN express themselves through a spontaneous language, without stereotypes or barriers, and that they build iconic brands with a human objective, “a real objective,” whose result achieves a permanent emotional bond with people. In the end, she affirms, “We are CHAVÓN … a community!”

Créditos:

Fotografía: Eduardo Javier 

Estilismo: José Padilla 

Egresado de Bellas Artes CHAVÓN, en 1990, Elías Roedán se enamoró de la Ilustración y partió a otros lares (a Parsons The New School for Design), para cursar una especialización, en 1992; sin embargo, su mente y espíritu nunca se alejaron de su alma máter. De hecho, él lo reconoce sin titubeos: «Siempre he estado presente en la familia chavonera»; tanto así que, años después de regresar de Nueva York, nuestra escuela lo llamó para enseñar Ilustración. Y, aunque nunca pensó en ser maestro, recuerda con nostalgia: «Volver a mi ‹casa› como docente me generó la misma emoción que cuando pisé sus aulas por primera vez en calidad de estudiante». 

Pero antes de proseguir con su anecdótica trayectoria profesional en CHAVÓN, cabe destacar que fungió como editor de diseño del Departamento de Revistas del Listín Diario; así como, de los periódicos Hoy y El Nacional. Además, tuvo a bien concebir la revista infantil «ZumZum» desde el Grupo Editorial Loro, donde se desempeñó como fundador y director creativo.

En lo que al mundo del arte plástico respecta, Elías Roedán ha realizado cuatro exposiciones individuales: «Uno» (2016) y «Hebras» (2015), exhibidas en la Galería ASR Contemporáneo; y «Stella» y «Operetta» (ambas presentadas al público en 2005). En este sentido, sus obras están diseminadas en todos los confines de la Tierra y forman parte de importantes colecciones nacionales e internacionales. 

Elías ostenta varios premios en su haber: «Selección especial», en la Bienal Iberoamericana De Diseño; «Mención», en el Primer Concurso De Pintura Barceló; y «Excelencia académica», en Parsons The New School For Design, por mencionar algunos. 

Entre otros proyectos ilustrativos, donde también ha estampado su sello particular, están: La exposición de «La historia de la banca del Banco Popular» y el afiche de la 21.^a Feria del Libro Santo Domingo 2018; asimismo, representó al país con trabajos artísticos que vieron la luz en la publicación de Felipe Taborda, para Taschen Latin American Graphic Design. Hoy día, brinda sus servicios como diseñador e ilustrador editorial de manera independiente.

Sin embargo, como «el buen hijo a su casa vuelve», asumió la responsabilidad de dirigir la carrera de Comunicaciones en CHAVÓN durante el 2000, enfrentándose a un nuevo milenio y a las actualizaciones de lugar; allí estuvo hasta el 2007, experimentando un nivel de aprendizaje y crecimiento, que solidificó su conexión con la Escuela en todos los sentidos.

«Volver en 2018 a CHAVÓN-Santo Domingo fue otro reto para mí, y sentí dudas; pero, con solo pisar las aulas el primer día, me di cuenta de que la esencia era la misma y de que una nueva historia se estaba escribiendo», confiesa este talentoso artista, quien hace poco aceptó cargar sobre sus hombros la responsabilidad de fungir como coordinador académico. Desde esa importante posición, su objetivo es asesorar, guiar y apoyar toda la labor académica, trabajando directamente con la Rectoría y Vicerrectoría de nuestra escuela y acompañando a las cabezas de cada Carrera. 

Y es que, Elías Roedán es fiel creyente de que al estudiantado chavonero hay que permitirle «ser, creer y crear». En ese sentido, agrega: «Confiamos en nuestros talentos desde el inicio, impulsando sus procesos de crecimiento, progreso y madurez hasta que logran sus objetivos. Fomentamos el crecimiento, personal y profesional, de cada alumno y de la Facultad -conformada por profesionales activos en sus áreas-; y contamos con programas especialmente diseñados para dotar a nuestros futuros egresados de las competencias necesarias para triunfar en el mundo laboral».

Como desde que era estudiante en CHAVÓN, vivió en carne propia que el aprendizaje depende más de una adecuada retroalimentación docente basada en la actualidad, que de las fórmulas y los libros, Elías nunca cortará el cordón umbilical que le une a la Escuela. Es más, según sus propias palabras: «CHAVÓN siempre será parte integral de mi vida, y yo siempre seré de CHAVÓN… ». 

Tanya Valette, a film and television producer, was the first woman to direct the International School of Film and Television (EICTV), founded in Cuba by the Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez and recognized as one of the most prestigious film schools in the world.

Tanya, who also performs the roles of screenwriter, producer, and creator of documentaries, has worked in France, Spain, and Portugal in the world of documentary production and the development of author projects. She immediately returned to her native land and didn’t hesitate to put her vast experience as a manager of cultural matters at her country’s disposition. 

In the audiovisual field, Tanya has served as an analyst and juror at several local and international festivals and has worked as a curator and coordinator of various meetings and workshops related to her specialty. She has also received many prizes, was part of the team that drew up the Dominican Republic’s Film Law, and later took charge of development strategies for the Dominican National Film Board.

In 2013 she was artistic director and head of programing of the International Film Festival of Murcia (IBAFF; Spain). She then served as head of production and direction of documentaries and experimental at Basanta Films (Dominican Republic), later holding the position of executive producer atLa Mala Res Films. 

Since 2017 Tanya has coordinated the Film major at CHAVÓN, which has been recognized by Variety magazine as a stellar film school. So she knows well the school’s dynamics, and confronting this academic cycle, she is aware of the great challenge of transmitting through virtual teaching the passion of such a special field as film.

“Film is a collective undertaking and very hands on; what’s more, it even calls for a degree of craftsmanship,” affirms this expert on the subject, who asserts that she is prepared—together with the teachers working with her in the major—to guarantee that in this sui generissemester, theory and practice will come together, and that powerful audiovisual pieces can be produced.

Among the tools that Tanya offers our students, so that they may achieve distinction in the world of film, are “the construction of an individual viewpoint, through a route that brings them to a clear vision of film, society, the world…. Finding their identity at the same time as they’re answering such questions as Who am I? Where do I come from? From what vantage point do I look at the other? And the most important conversational and narrative devices, because I consider these areas to be a weak point in our filmmaking.”

She cites several reasons to study Film at our school, but she ranks the following first: “At CHAVÓN the major has a multidisciplinary design, which enables those who complete the two-year program to go out into the marketplace with comprehensive training that covers the principal areas ofthe work of filmmaking.”

The experience is not improvised, and this creative woman wagers that classes are 100% theoretical–practical and that students will create a series of individual and group pieces during the course of each module. Tanya is confident in the professionally active faculty that back her up: of diverse nationalities, they bring a diversity of approaches. Further, she deals with film in all its forms and formats and, above all, dreams that “students will be able to tell stories from the place where their stories demandto be told.” And Tanya’s dreams usually come true.

Chavonera to the bone, Laura De Pegna is also one of the group of talents who emerged from our school and then submerged herself in the classrooms of Parsons School of Design to specialize in the area of product design.

As a professional interior and product designer, she worked in New York for designers of the stature of Jonathan Adler, Vicente Wolf, and Nan Swid (with the Calvin Klein Home collection). And the incomparable experience she obtained in the United States corporate world designing collections for the home for such well-known brands as Target, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Kmart, Sears, Bed Bath & Beyond, Kohl’s, Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, and West Elm goes without saying. She further left her personal imprint on collections produced for factories in India, China, Turkey, Vietnam, Indonesia, Portugal, France, and South America.

In recent years she has collaborated and shared her broad experience with the textile communities of various countries that are preserving their traditional crafts with products made by hand, that keep their focus on social responsibility with an eye toward their craftspeople, that value Latin American roots, and that prioritize ecological design.

Laura proudly admits it: she feels a strong attraction for textiles, ceramics, porcelain vessels, lighting, and household utensils. Her focus and style are marked by the exploration and creation of new concepts and production techniques. Soit’s no surprise that many of her designs, ideas, and concepts have been presented with great success at numerous galleries, exhibits, and local and international fairs.

Knowing full well the importance of designing objects in conjunction with spaces and furniture, today she is co-coordinator, together with Andreas De Camps, of the Interior and ProductDesign major at the CHAVÓN School of Design. Laura heads the Product Design specialty, hoping to develop projects that “educate, raise consciousness, and promote change in local industry.”

“Toward this dream we’ve gathered a marvelous group of professionals, Dominican and international, at a high level of design,” affirms this consummate professional, who has plans to implement a student program comprising the tools necessary for the process of design development and the fundamentals of concept and functionality, with the goal that the CHAVÓN graduate will know the techniques of creativity and research analysis as well as styles of consumption, the demands and needs of the market, and the importance of social responsibility.

For this creative woman, “The Interior and Product Design major at CHAVÓN goes beyond esthetics: we focus on bettering not only our environment but also the wellbeing of people through space, furniture, and surrounding objects.”

While the first year of the major is centered on providing the basic concepts of design, which will strengthen participants’ skills in research and critical thought through exploration and work (individual, collaborative, and multidisciplinary), the second year will focus on the development of personal creativity and will introduce the tools of the specialty. That’s why Laura proposes that her groups have the challenge of developing complete, innovative, and finished projects with solid conceptual fundamentals.

And so it is that this woman—passionate about the esthetics of the home and about design brands, and with more than 10 years’ experience in the market of luxury items and lifestyles and almost five years’ experience in the stages of product life cycles behind her—is supremely clear about it: “My aspiration always aims to create an environment that is sufficiently  healthful, harmonious, and functional.”

Sahira Fontana and Géber García together form a perfectly synchronized work tandem. This versatile and complementary duo, with more than 15 years of professional experience, produces, photographs, and retouches images of high quality. Their clients are global and local brands, creative agencies, and marketing and communication teams, as well as luminaries in the editorial industry and in fashion, not to mention a long list of others.

Sahira is a graduate in advertising of the APEC University (Dominican Republic) and in 2006 earned a Master’s degree in commercial digital photography from the Efti School (Madrid). Géber studied laboratory chemistry at the University of Santiago de Compostela and also earned a Master’s degree in commercial digital photography from the Efti School in 2006.

The two have coincided in several aspects of their academic training, in their love for art, and now, in the coordination of the Photography major at the CHAVÓN School of Design. In fact, to the question as to why they accepted this new professional challenge, they answer in unison: “For the importance of the image!”

For them, photography is a tool that allows them to understand and appraise the world that surrounds them; in this sense they totally understand how young people perceive context and reality through it. That’s why, among the innumerable expectations they bring with them to the major they are leading—surrounded by an excellent team of teaching colleagues—is that “CHAVÓN can be a meeting point and setting for dialog about Dominican culture, where critical thought and the value of photography as an agent of change in our environment are promoted.”

As a couple, they plan to bring their best to their new management roles: Géber, technique and creativity, Sahira, research and production, thus strengthening their fortress built of two spirits, distinct but 100% complementary.

Among their ideals is to bring their synergy to CHAVÓN’s classrooms through the exploration and practice of the creative techniques inherent in photographic processes, always keeping an ear to the student’s voice, and promoting an intellectual search as students create their work.

To be sure, they offer a versatile view in this dynamic school, in the interest of openness and listening to the needs of the student body, which unfailingly results in improvements in the program by and for the group. Sahira y Géber consider the CHAVÓN family as “a large community that takes shape by building on its own viewpoint, with an interwoven and interdisciplinary vision that ensures contemporary artistic creation, practical techniques for professional tasks on our island, and recognition forged through the road traveled by its graduates.” 

Given that they both followed these steps, the best advice they can give future CHAVÓN graduates is to be curious, thirst for knowledge, broaden their references, seek inspiration in their own context, and observe the world closest to themselves. They must also be open to creative collaborations, to building synergies, and to understanding that they can achieve fulfillment through empathy and widening their circles.

Speaking of circles, Sahira y Géber are clear that educating is an unceasing exercise in connection and renewal—a constant giving and receiving, in which they are already engaged and from which they will probably never be separated.

El Festival Internacional de Súper 8, llamado ‘’Super Off’’, que se desarrolla en Brasil , es un espacio de resistencia cultural, creatividad y de vanguardia. La 7a edición del “Super Off, se realizará de manera virtual en noviembre de 2020 y es una producción independiente del Colectivo Mundo en foco.  

Este año se presentará una Muestra Paralela dedicada a la República Dominicana con cortos realizados por estudiantes de segundo año de la Carrera Técnica en Cine de CHAVÓN. Cuatro de los cortos presentados calificaron para el festival y estarán compitiendo con cineastas de diferentes partes del mundo. 

El objetivo del festival es la difusión de producciones recientes y la recuperación de la memoria de la producción cinematográfica realizada en el calibre Super-8 en Brasil, América Latina y el Mundo. 

Marcel Beltrán, cineasta y profesor del taller de Súper 8 en CHAVÓN, impartirá una conferencia para los asistentes del festival. 

Muestra Paralela – Estudiantes de CHAVÓN 

“La Folie” de María Garabito (corto en competencia)

“Limbo” de Dalissa Montes de Oca 

“Más allá del sentido” de Laura García 

“Nely” de Jeure José Tavares (corto en competencia)

“Nock Nock” de Eduardo Ceballos 

“Paroniria de tarde” de Freddy Antonio Guerrero (corto en competencia)

“The Apartment #1” de María Del Carmen Cortines 

“Verticordia” de Alma Melina Abreu 

“Zelva” de María Victoria Rodríguez (corto en competencia)

Para conocer más detalles del festival, visita: https://www.mundoemfoco.org/

Coming from the same CHAVÓN, as a 2003 Fine Arts and Illustration graduate, and from a Parsons School of Design specialization, in 2005, this multifaceted artist joins the ranks of our faculty as coordinator of the Illustration technical major. Facing this new professional challenge, Jonathan—supported by a distinguished team of professionals and colleagues- is going for it all.

The talent of this new generation of illustrators is their motor; guiding them so they may have their own voice and defend their critical thought, their ignition. “The idea is to imbue students with information and techniques without changing their essence, so that upon graduation they will have long and satisfying careers where they continue to explore and expand their skills,” says Jonathan.

For this creative, “The ability to tell a story with something as primitive as lines on paper is a profound connection with humanity». That’s why he’s  a faithful believer that drawing from direct observation is the keystone of the Illustration major’s academic plan, along with classic techniques in combination with contemporary mediums.

Jonathan dreams that visual narrative, the development of concepts, and the use of different techniques will become something natural for the CHAVÓN illustrator over the course of the major’s two years—and forever!.

He comes with an impressive professional trajectory. His works have been exhibited with great success in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, New York (Studio Museum in Harlem and Parsons Gallery), and Connecticut (Mystic Seaport).

But it doesn’t stop there: Jonathan has also played a fundamental role in the creation of five original, copyrighted properties “Suckers,” “After Ascension,” “Gulls,” and “Jaymse” (he was  Ascensión», «Gulls y «Jaymse» (he was involved in the development of the last three).

He has also created many storyboards and animations. He participated in the series «The I-Land I», on Netflix, as well as in the Dominican films «The Barbershop», «Loki 7» and «The Fabulous V», to name a few.

He has worked on different educational projects such as the creation of children’s books, and has participated in the design and illustration of the cover of the Penguin Young Readers Group series of 2005–2006. 

Motivated by this barrage of successes, Jonathan launched Piece of Schmidt, his own studio, in 2013. Magic was produced there, through their services —the conception, development, and creation of characters storyboards, and animation.

Now, since his recently assumed position of academic coordinator, this artist plans to work with each person so that they eliminate any kind of negativity toward their work and find a way to translate their thoughts with clarity. In other words, this is what Jonathan has as his guiding principle “To equip students with the mentality to be better than yesterday.”

After graduating as an architect from the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) and earning a Master’s in Architecture from the Yale School of Architecture, Andreas De Camps, also an interior designer, worked for several years for important New York firms in her specialties such as  Robert A.M. Stern Architects and Gensler New York.

When Andreas returned to her native country, the Dominican Republic, she decided to create Studio AD, a multidisciplinary, integrated new company, focused on the convergence of architecture, interior design, and art, as well as on the creation of objects, graphics, materials, and textures. 

To be co-leader of the Interior Design major with Laura de Pegna is simply a product of her passion for design and her interest in sharing her experience and knowledge of the world of interior design.

Among the hopes Andreas has upon embarking on this academic crossroads is that graduates in this major will leave with abilities in all aspects of the design process, from the definition and initiation of an interior environment to its construction and conclusion, including the means and methods of design production.

Projects that are relevant, that deal with current problems, that demonstrate a difference, and that change the industry, as well as the practice that future designers will need to triumph in these times—these are the ace Andreas has up her sleeve on becoming a chavonera.

To enablestudents to come up with creations that require critical thinking and to take on projects (responsible and sustainable) are also part of Andreas’s plans. She further hopes that students will complete their technical development and that they will learn everything from managing the software programs most widely used today to having a good theoretical basis for discourse on design.

Aware that she is supported by a teaching team supremely prepared and recognized in the area of interior design, Andreas states definitively, “Students in the Interior Design major at CHAVÓN not only will be contemporary and up to date but also well developed with respect to themes involving the design field.

This talented architect and interior designer visualizes interior design as a multifaceted profession that requires technical and creative solutions, that propose a well-constructed and optimally completed interior environment. That’s why she firmly maintains her ideal that CHAVÓN students will learn to develop functional and esthetically attractive spatial solutions that will improve their occupants’ culture and quality of life.

“Today’s interior design must incentivize dialog, to solve problems oriented to human beings, to create places with meaning, and to generate spaces that support the human experience within the context of a world that is every day more globalized,” says Andreas.

And so, finally, for this professional it is in every respect important that future interior designers understand and analyze today’s design problems, and, equally, understand the global challenges they will face; as she says, “We designers can make the difference in the next century, and in this way leave our mark.”

Known as one of the most successful artists from the Dominican Republic, this chavonera has worked with our school since the day she became a fine-arts professional. Since 1991 she has shared—one way or another—with innumerable budding talents what she calls “the extraordinary tools that art offers to learn and connect us with the world in a unique manner.” And she has succeeded determinedly through painting, sculpture, installation, and photography, often combining more than one of these mediums.

These days life has confronted her with a new challenge: to become the new coordinator of CHAVÓN’s Fine Arts major. To that end she has surrounded herself with a team of renowned artist–teachers who share her passion for art and for guiding students in their creative process and their growth in art.

If CHAVÓN has left an indelible mark on Raquel, she has the decided goal of paying back all she received from her alma mater; that’s why she plans for the major she is leading to become, as she puts it, “a kind of laboratory where students experiment with multiple mediums, articulate their vision and thoughts about art, and acquire the tools to empower themselves and insert themselves in their environment through the practice of art.”

She also hopes that Fine Arts students will work on acquiring the essential skills to be able to communicate visually and sensually; and she is proposing an approach to the multidisciplinary character of art today, in which categories are not the most important thing, and any object or experience is a channel for expression.

As a sign of her goals, she fervently affirms, “I will accompany students in a creative process in which critical thinking, knowledge of history, and conscious visual referents are a fundamental part of their growth.” And as an authority on the subject, she knows well whereof she speaks, since her work has taken her around the world and has been exhibited in such permanent collections as those of the RISD Museum, in Providence, Rhode Island; the Museum of Latin American Art, in Long Beach, California; and the Daros Latinamerica Collection, in Zurich.

Her experience also includes participation in expositions, residencies, and biennials in the United States, Europe, and Asia, as well as in Latin America and the Caribbean. Highlights among these are the Venice Biennials of 2009 and 2013; the VIII, IX, and XXI Biennials of Havana, Cuba; the X Biennial of Cuenca, Ecuador; the III Biennial of the End of the World, in Ushuaia, Argentina; and the Jamaica Biennial of 2017.

She is also an active participant in art tours in our country, in which she demonstrates a great interest in promoting spaces for dialog and education within cultural platforms. And as co-creator of the collective Quintapata (from 2008 to 2015) she developed joint projects with the aim of encouraging art and arts dialog in the Dominican Republic and creating connections with other contexts and spaces.

Notably, she won the Eduardo León Jimenes Grand Prize in 2006, 2008, and 2012 and won prizes at the XX and XXII National Biennial of Visual Arts in Santo Domingo. In 2015 she was pleased to receive the support of the Davidoff Art Initiative for a residency in the Kunstlerhaus Bethanien, in Berlin.

With Raquel Paeiwonsky at the helm, budding CHAVÓN artists will have the good fortune not only to touch the human spirit and connect with the world and with one another, but also to benefit from the broad experience of this artist as their principal mentor in the fascinating adventure of learning. 

La moda local y talento chavonero se hacen presente durante el acto inaugural y toma de posesión del presidente electo de la República Dominicana, el Sr. Luis Abinader y la Vicepresienta electa, la Sra. Raquel Peña. 

El código de vestimenta desde el 1973 ha sido el color blanco para representar cercanía, confiabilidad y frescura. Los egresados de la Carrera Técnica en Diseño de Modas, Luis Domínguez, José Jhan Rodríguez y Maylé Vásquez, así como Solange Jiménez, Carolina Socías y Kaori Sone, miembros del equipo de diseño de la Casa de Modas Jenny Polanco, supieron representar a la perfección el estilo de cada candidato y con sus diseños pusieron en alto la moda dominicana. 

Luis Domínguez, egresado en el año 2000, ha explorado todos los rincones de la moda, alfombras rojas para eventos importantes, graduación y línea de uniformes. Tras quince colecciones realizadas, hoy en día es conocido como el ‘’Rey de las Novias’’ diseñando hermosos trajes de novias. 

Para este evento de toma de posesión, vistió a:

• Raquel Peña, Vicepresidenta electa
• Milagros Germán, Vocera del Gobierno
• Dra. Yadira Henríquez, Directora del Plan de Asistencia Social de la Presidencia
• Grey Maldonado, Diputada provincia El Seibo
• Rosa e Isabel Antuña Peña, hijas de la Vicepresidenta electa

José Jhan Rodríguez, egresado en 1995, se especializó en Marketing Visual en Moda en el International Fine Arts Collage en Miami y en Imagen de Moda en el Instituto de diseño Marangoni en Milán tras finalizar sus estudios en CHAVÓN. Ha vestido a importantes celebridades de la República Dominicana y Latinoamérica en general, y ha sido asesor de imagen del reconocido cantautor, Juan Luis Guerra. 

En esta importante ocasión, vistió a:

• Eduardo Sanz Lovaton, Director General de Aduanas 
• Jose Horacio Rodríguez, Diputado Distrito Nacional 
• Angel Estévez, Diputado de La Vega 
• José del Castillo, Senador de Barahona
• Juan José Rojas, Diputado Provincia Santo Domingo 
• Ivan Lorenzo, Senador Provincia Elías Piña 
• Bolivar Valera, Diputado Santo Domingo Este 

Maylé Vázquez, egresada en 2007, continuó sus estudios en Parsons School of Design y luego realizó un master en Gerencia de Marca y Comunicaciones en el Instituto de diseño Marangoni en Milán.  La joven diseñadora tiene un atelier de costura donde produce ropa para una gran lista de clientas.

Para este evento de toma de posesión, vistió a:

• Faride Raful, Senadora del Distrito Nacional

Las también egresadas de la Carrera Técnica de Diseño de Modas en CHAVÓN, Solange Jiménez 1989,Carolina Socías 2011, y Kaori Sone 2011, quienes forman parte del equipo de diseño de la Casa de Modas Jenny Polanco, quien vistió a la Primera Dama, la Sra. Raquel Arbaje de Abinader.