This proclamation criticizes the precarious state of the Taller Libre de Arte (TLA) and demands the intervention of Venezuelans cultural institutions to revitalize what was once the heart of the national artistic avant-garde. The authors complain that the TLA is no longer an innovative workshop where painters meet and work; furthermore, very few exhibitions are organized, and those presented are of dubious quality. The manifesto supports the solution proposed by the painter Alirio Oramas, who suggests measures that could be taken to reclaim, improve, and reorganize the TLA, including getting the INCIBA involved and showing the public what is being done to inject new life into the Taller.    

It is generally agreed that the TLA (Taller Libre de Arte) existed from 1948 until 1952, according to Venezuelan art historians, critics, and the most distinguished members of the workshop. In 1951, however, Régulo Pérez was quoted in the press (El Nacional, August 25, 1951), complaining about the deplorable state of the workshop, and predicting its imminent demise. At the time, Louis Rawlinson had been appointed director to replace Alirio Oramas, who had gone to Paris, and the state of crisis at the workshop became apparent. Rawlinson’s appointment was openly challenged by members of the TLA, who formed a reorganization board, with José Fernández Díaz as chairman, which remained in charge of the workshop until a new director was appointed in 1953. In 1952 the TLA moved (to the corner of Cipreses in Caracas) and continued to organize exhibitions and other events. The TLA moved again in 1953, and the painter Martín Leonardo Funes was appointed director, which consolidated attempts made by José Fernández Díaz to transform the TLA into an academic center for art education and artist workshops, distancing the organization from its original roots. Those were dark days for the TLA, but an attempt was made in the mid-1960s to alter its course. The attempt was proposed and submitted to the INCIBA (Instituto Nacional de Cultura y Bellas Artes) by Alirio Oramas, a founding member of the TLA. The broad reorganization plan was not considered, however, and in August 1967 the teachers of the TLA were all dismissed, which brought the saga of the workshop to a close.       

[For more information on the TLA, see in the ICAA digital archive the prologues by Bernardo Chataing on the first collective of the TLA, “Texto presentación,” (doc. no. 1101666), and by Luis Berroterán, “Texto presentación 3 Salón de jóvenes pintores del Taller Libre de Arte” (doc. no. 1063067); the (unsigned) article “Es necesario reorganizar el Taller Libre de Arte” (doc. no. 1051925); the (unsigned) article “No esta clausurado el Taller Libre de Arte” (doc. no. 1167909); and the article that announces that the workshop has closed and has been replaced by another institution, the INCIBA, “Han sido destituidos todos los profesores del Taller Libre de Arte” (doc. no. 1172267)].