An artist and real estate developer from Seattle has teamed up with a renowned architect to create the future mecca of arts and culture in the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. Coco Arts Center is the name of this future art gallery and cultural exhibition facility, which will be located 100 meters east of Iguanas, on the northern sector of the town. This ambitious project carries a budget of more than $7 million, and it is unlike anything Guanacaste has ever seen.

Artistic and Cultural Vision

According to the developers of the Coco Arts Center, the project will provide a centralized facility for artists and performers from around the world to come together to work in an environment that fosters the sharing of ideas and ideals and the opportunity for these to resonate both in the local community and in the wider world beyond.

The Coco Arts Center will include:

• A Visual Art Gallery and Exhibition Space
• Up to ten Artist Live+Work Studios
• A Conference/Retreat Center; a rooftop Amphitheater and Sunset Club bar venue.

In addition to those core spaces the project also provides the support space for both day-to-day operations of the facility in Costa Rica, as well as the spaces that house or supports the core activities. These include a green room; an audio-visual studio; concession area; mechanical and electrical closets and storage.

Flexible unprogrammed space is also included to house potential independent business ventures that contribute to both the financial support and cultural mix of the center. Possibilities here include such options as a “Jam Box” practice -recording studio; digital production lab; a “Full Motion” dance studio; or even a “Listener Powered” public radio station.

The Team

Eddie Maurer is a practicing visual artist and as a real estate developer is someone with solid experience with this type of venture. In the mid 1980’s, Maurer developed and operated JEM Studios, a thriving artist incubator that provided over 80 “live+work” spaces used for artist studios, practice spaces and galleries that served the large community of visual artist and creative people in Seattle, Washington during the infamous Grunge and Dot.Com eras. At that same period, Maurer was also spending a lot of time in Costa Rica, having purchased a sizable piece of land and successfully developing a pair of condominium communities in Coco.

Kevin Carl is a principal with Urban Innovations Group, and is currently serving as Board President of 4Culture, King County Washington’s Public Arts, Heritage and Historic Preservation Authority. Kevin’s diverse experience with planning, design and development spans twenty five years working from both coasts of the United States. His experience includes the design and project management of museum projects such as the Smithsonian Institution’s NMAI, Catalina Island Museum, Hanford Reach Museum of Science, Technology & Natural History; conference and learning centers such as Sleeping Lady Mountain Retreat and Mercer Slough Environmental Educations Center; urban design projects for Safeco Field- Seattle, Commons Park- Denver, Balboa Park-San Diego and the Land Bridge – Vancouver, Washington.

The Condominiums

To support patrons of the arts and the artist-in-residency program, the Coco Arts Center will also have residential areas:

Six newly constructed two bedrooms, two bathrooms single story residential units constructed on two stacked levels. Each condo shall have a private entry, dedicated exterior patio, a kitchen, open plan living/dining area, a laundry closet and small landscape garden area. The units are sized at approximately 104 m2 or 1,124 SF. These units will be built on the vacant building pad immediately north of the pool and terrace area.

Projects such as the Coco Arts Center are part of the grand vision that Guanacaste has in store for Costa Rica. According to online news daily El Pais, the Cantonal Mayor of Carrillo has presented the project to the Municipal Council, and that it has thus far been welcomed. This center has a great potential to foster the advancement of the arts in Costa Rica.