Art on the Papagayo Peninsula

Christmas Eve was different for us this year. While most people were wrapping presents, we were hanging paintings! Our temporary gallery walls arrived at Andaz on Tuesday and our Guanacaste carpentry team spent the day transforming Studio 3 from conference room into gallery space, ready for us to begin. Installation finished by lunchtime on Christmas Day allowing us the afternoon to celebrate the finished result and Christmas with friends.

Thursday marked the opening. Hotel guests drifted in throughout the day, many from the United States, some lured by curiosity after dinner at the hotel's new pop-up restaurant, El Gaucho, adjacent to Studio 3.

One of my favourite things about Andaz Art Week is the light that streams in from Culebra Bay; it constantly shifts throughout the day, illuminating Karla Herencia's ocean-inspired acrylic painting Sintonía Marina, for example, differently at two o'clock than at five. By evening, people lean in close to examine the ethereal smoke paintings of Miguel Hernández Bastos, the ghostly, gothic architectural structure of Erick Víquez or the hyperreal details in Gilberto Ramírez's new beach painting. The bright light changes as the day progresses, the Pacific light revealing details that disappear in shadow.

Belinda Seppings at Andaz Art Week

This is our third Andaz Art Week. Each edition teaches us more about how people engage with art when they're away from routine. It always feels that the intimacy of Studio 3 allows for extended conversations for art on the Papagayo Peninsula that wouldn't happen in a traditional gallery. For example, we've spent twenty minutes introducing Fabian Monge's circular compositions or discussing how Christian Porras translates his music into paintings using ovoids. People staying at the hotel return the next day with questions. They bring their friends and family. It's like they live with the art for the few days that they are visiting and build a relationship with the artists/artworks on display.

We've also welcomed local residents alongside hotel guests—people from Guanacaste communities who heard about the exhibition and came to experience it. Whether visitors are looking to buy art on the Papagayo Peninsula or simply experience art that doesn't often travel to Guancaste, Andaz Art Week welcomes everybody.

Our repeated temporary wall arrangement creates distinct zones for different kinds of looking. The interior walls form more intimate spaces where we positioned Katrin Aason's three textile pieces with Lorena Villalobos's oil and resin paintings. These works encourage close attention, revealing complexity gradually. The walls facing the large windows showcase pieces that respond to direct sunlight, such as Carolina's colourful tapestries and Carlos's textured acrylic and soil surfaces.

Works by Lorena Villalobos (centre) and Katrin Aason (left)

We always approach Andaz Art Week experimentally, mixing emerging voices with established names, textiles with hyperrealism, abstraction with figuration. The goal is show art on the Papagayo Peninsula, to show the breadth of Costa Rica's contemporary art scene. The variety demonstrates that there's no single aesthetic defining the work being made here. Collectors discover artists they've never encountered. Artists connect with international audiences who might never visit a San José gallery. The conversations about technique, inspiration, materials are what justify the effort of building this temporary display during the holidays.

Works by Rossella Matamoros (left) and Roberto Carter (right)

In addition, Andaz Art Week supports Creciendo Juntos, a Costa Rican nonprofit working across nineteen Guanacaste communities. Every sale generates a fifty-dollar donation toward education access, health services, vocational training and community development. The organisation supports teacher training, school infrastructure improvements, technical programs and preventive health services for children, youth and families throughout the region.

This partnership matters because Peninsula Papagayo exists within Guanacaste, surrounded by communities that remain largely invisible to resort visitors. Contemporary art exhibitions can feel disconnected from the places they occupy, but supporting Creciendo Juntos grounds the work in local context. Collectors who acquire pieces know their purchase contributes to educational opportunities in the region where they discovered the art.

Artworks by Karla Herencia (left) and Jaime Gurdián (right)

The exhibition closes on 2 January. If you're in Guanacaste this week, please come see us in Studio 3! If you're elsewhere and curious, reach out for a digital catalogue. We're here daily, eager to talk about the work and the artists behind it.

Thank you to everyone who has already visited. Thank you to Andaz Peninsula Papagayo for making space during their busiest season. And thank you to the artists whose work transforms a hotel meeting space into something worth crossing a lobby to see.

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