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[quote=”maravilla”]the law is the law is the law, but the law is applied differently if you are an artist. since you are not, then you wouldn’t have known about this. as an example, ,my husband is going to do a huge mosaic mural for our local church. do you really think the law is going to tell him he has to have a work permit? no way. artists are always welcome in most civilized countries because you contribute to the culture. and if you want to eat frankenfoods, you can have my share.[/quote]
cuidado con los ‘cheap shots,’ there……….(‘frankenfoods,’ indeed). What you seem to be missing is that I have not said anything about supporting the introduction of those GMO’s about which you are so concerned. I’ve just been playing ‘devil’s advocate,’ trying to keep the discussion real. For that matter, how do you know that the ‘organic foods’ that you are probably paying extra money for, are really and truly organic? Have you personally visited all the farms and fields where they are raised?
And, how do you know that I am not an artist? Maybe I play the hell out of the drums! You don’t know me. As for your husband doing a big mural, is he being paid for his work? If he is volunteering, that is a non-starter.
And, if he is being paid, isn’t he taking work away from a talented Tico? How do we know? (we, being you and I; we really don’t, you know).Anyone who can hold a paint brush or strum a guitar may call him/herself an artist. What the government calls an artist or an original work of art may be probably as loose a definition as could exist.
As a Customs broker in the States, I cleared a whole lot of “original works of art” as duty free through US Customs with nothing more than a declaration by the artist on a commercial invoice. However, I suspect any official provision for permission for artists to live and work in CR will probably require proof that income has been and can be earned by the production or performance of the art in question….and that the art in question is unique and would be a valuable contribution to the Costa Rican culture. This, it seems to me, would be a tall order for most artists to fill.well, sprite, you are correct in your assessment of what constitutes art and whether it would be of benefit to CR, and fortunately, what my husband and i do, cannot be done by just anybody, otherwise everyone would be doing it. we have the approval of the church. that counts for a lot. as for musicians, well, if you’ve only ever played for your friends, or on the street with a hat at your feet, you are not going to be welcomed with open arms in any country, but if you are a successful artist in any number of media, if goes a long way to opening doors for a lot of different things, including residency, as it did for us.
I worked for three years as an in-house illustrator when I was in my mid twenties. I belong to a small percentage of people who can say that they have earned their living with their artistic abilities. But I quickly came to the conclusion that when I had to be creative upon demand in order to secure a paycheck, much of the desire I felt in illustrating disappeared. It became just another job.
Of all the dreams that people pursue when they move to Costa Rica, I should think that work or career would be near last on the list. As foreign nationals, we aren’t allowed to work and entrepreneurs would have a better environment in countries which focus on business. From my perspective, the best reasons for coming to Costa Rica should have little to do with making money and much to do with making an adventure.[quote=”sprite”] From my perspective, the best reasons for coming to Costa Rica should have little to do with making money and much to do with making an adventure.[/quote]
To which I would add, “. . and making a life.”
In response to Johns quote [i]”how do you know that the ‘organic foods’ that you are probably paying extra money for, are really and truly organic? Have you personally visited all the farms and fields where they are raised?”.[/i]
There was a ‘similar discussion’ on another forum recently where I stated [i]”There is no guarantee where you buy your fruit & veggies to be absolutely sure if the is organic or not, but in the case of many small farms they simply cannot afford to spray and purchase fertilizers, so I always feel that they are [b]’organic by default'[/b]
And if you have never tried to grow a garden in tropical conditions, you have absolutely no idea on how difficult and how much physically exhausting/demanding work, it can be.”[/i]
To be “declared an organic gardener one must not plant anything within a 15 mt perimeter/border of your land” that borders a neighbor who may use sprays, fertilizer, etc on his property, so this is extremely difficult and more often ignored.
I do know for a fact that many farmers/gardeners use ‘ground water’ which [i]originates in the vicinity[/i] where cattle graze or river water and have done so for many years so when ‘testing the water’ there is a percentage of ‘residual fecal matter’ that will be used in the garden.
So, even in a personal garden, where your water may come from a similar source, not from a deep well or AyA, one may be be [i]’fertilizing your lettuces'[/i] without knowing it.sprite, a true artist stops creating when they are dead. retirement doesn’t exist for an artist. you either have to create or you will die from not creating. my husband is someone like that, and me, too. so this mural he will be doing is just another big project similar to the ones we have already done — a 700 sq ft handcut mural for the cleveland train station, the outside of 4 different bank buildings, etc. — and he will be recruiting some locals to help him. in the end, he will have created an artistic masterpiece like none other in Costa Rica and it wlll get worldwide publicity. it’s a win-win for everyone.
I would love to see the finished work. Almost everyone has some talent and a need to be creative at something and almost everyone finds an outlet for their creativity. You are right in saying that for a true artist, creativity never stops. But I believe that holds true for everyone. And there are as many ways to be creative as there are people.
All the advice I have ever read says that epxats retired in Costa Rica need to find ways to continue their interests or find new ones. If you can make some money legally while doing it, great. But the money should be a secondary consideration, the icing on the cake. Since we are not permitted to work, the main focus should be on making a life, as David points out. By the time a retiree gets to Costa Rica, the money part should already be resolved. In fact, that is a legal requirement.
you can see some of the other murals we’ve done at
http://www.becomingtile.com — the one for cleveland won’t be installed until the end of may — and that is the focal point of a $50M renovation. creating is never about the money; you create first, and then money follows — sometimes. to do a two panel mural for this church will cost about $15,000 or more just in tile because a lot of it will have 24k gold in it. we are in the process of raising the money now. this kind of project doesn’t even fall into the category of “working” — we are doing it for the love of doing it and what will come after in the way of other projects and press.I’ll say, sprite.
maravilla, you and your husband do wonderful things. Thank you for sharing them with us.
I have been looking into the idea of establishing a major USA entertainment brand at a few locations in Costa Rica. I don’t endeavor to own a club, but instead be an entertainment promoter working with a Franchise situation.
Conceptually this is about bringing B & C level North American, European, and Latin American artists to Costa Rica for perhaps a few weeks at a time. Single event situations might not be affordable but multiple shows could be. This could include known entertainers from the 60’s-90’s that would appeal to the visiting gringos, Ticos in-the-know, and of course the local ex-pats. It might also include some of the up and coming bands as often the record labels want them to go outside of prime markets to test out their materials.
I’ve already done some research and planning in terms of access to the entertainers and the powers that be feel the idea is sound. In fact they are doing something similar in Brazil.
Now the question is whether it makes sense to the guests and of course the locations. I have not yet done my demographics studies on Costa Rica. Ticket pricing is of course relative to what the market will bear as well as the cost of bringing the artists and crew down. The multi gig scenerio would help amoratize the logisitcs costs. It would be necessary to have a minimum 250 guest club and possbily go up as high as 750. Outdoor scenerios are not out of the question if permits can be obtained and it can be logistically managed. These same clubs might also be well suited to establish a high quality house band so that the location becomes a relied on source of entertainment with the occassional celebrity artists come in when and where the consumer traffic is present.
Does this make sense to anyone or am I sounding like a lunatic?
i don’t see why this isn’t viable. there are all kinds of bands, some on the has-been side, that still have a big audience in latin america. there are bluesfests in an around san jose, heavy metal is big here, although probably not so much with the expat crowd.
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