SociARTE and the MUN: Five Years of Using Art to Address the Needs of Social Organizations in Navarre

SociARTE’s annual meeting has already taken place at the MUN, marking a particularly significant occasion as it celebrated its fifth anniversary. The program was launched in 2021 by the MUN’s Education Department with the aim of listening to the needs of people associated with various social organizations in Navarre and providing them with a space, tools, and materials that would enable them to use art as a means of support and a resource to their benefit.

“We believe that a museum must be a space open to the community in which it is located; a museum must be fluid,” says Fernando Echarri, coordinator of SociARTE. From its inception, the MUN launched various initiatives and activities to achieve that goal, but the lack of a fixed program made it impossible to carry them out the way we had originally envisioned; “That’s why we decided to create a specific program in the form of a project, which allows us to plan more effectively and dedicate the resources it truly requires.”

Thanks to the support received from the “la Caixa” Foundation, all of this became a reality through SociARTE. “At the Foundation, we seek partnerships like the one with MUN, which help us strengthen our support for art and culture as a source of personal and social development,” says Izaskun Azcona, “la Caixa” Foundation Representative in Navarre. “Through this, we are able to create a fairer and more equitable society that leaves no one behind.”

Now, after five years of work, this fifth edition concludes with the addition of five new organizations, which join the 31 already participating, bringing the total to 36. All of them have celebrated this anniversary in a special way at the MUN, where an exhibition is currently on display in which these social organizations have played an essential role.

The event, at which the 31 existing participating organizations welcomed the five new members, centered on a very special collaborative activity focused on peace. In addition, during the event, visitors were able to access the MUN Tower Room, which houses the exhibition “Can a Painting Be My Friend?” This exhibition brings together works created by all those who, over the years of the MUN Educational Department’s history, have participated in its workshops and activities. Among them, therefore, is also the work created by the SociARTE users themselves, who also take center stage in the module “The Multicultural Pyramid,” a space showcasing work developed around values such as diversity, inclusion, and coexistence—a project that laid the foundation for the SociARTE program itself.

Among the social organizations participating in today’s event is the CORE Foundation, which works to transform initial reception into effective social and labor integration. Fundación CORE has been collaborating with SociARTE for several years now, as they believe this project provides them with useful tools for carrying out their work; as María Laura Robalino explains: “I think SociARTE is very enriching; it takes care of everything that each of our social organizations needs, and they’re always open to our own initiatives. What surprises me most is that, knowing the enormous amount of work the MUN already has, they are always attentive to us and committed to helping. What we like most is the warmth in their interactions, both with the organizers of the organizations and with the participants themselves: you can sense a great sensitivity to existing social diversity.”

SociARTE currently has 36 participating organizations. Thus, Fundación Secretariado Gitano, Itaka-Escolapios, Amagintza, COCEMFE, and Teléfono de la Esperanza have joined ACODIFNA (Coordinating Association of People with Physical Disabilities of Navarre), ADEMNA (Multiple Sclerosis Association of Navarre), ADHI (Navarre Association for the Treatment and Study of Attention Deficit, Hyperactivity, and Impulsivity), AEES (Spanish Association for Sensitive Education), AFAN (Association of Relatives of People with Alzheimer’s and Other Dementias of Navarre), ALCER NAVARRA (Association for the Fight Against Kidney Diseases), AMEDNA/NEEZE (Association of Women Entrepreneurs and Executives of Navarre), AMUDISNA (Association of Women with Disabilities of Navarre), ANAC (Navarre Association for Giftedness), ANADI (Navarre Diabetes Association), ANAPAR (Navarre Parkinson’s Association), ANDI (New Dialogue Association), ANELA (Navarre ALS Association), ANFAS (Navarre Association for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and Their Families), ANNF (Navarre New Future Association), ASDN (Navarre Down Syndrome Association), AR (Roncal Association), ASORNA (Navarre Association of Deaf People), Bilaketa, Besarkada – Abrazo, CEAR (Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid), Core Milagrosa Foundation, DISNAVARRA (Navarre Dyslexia Association), Eunate (Association of Families of Deaf People of Navarre), FIHB (Ilundáin Haritz-Berri Foundation), ALAN (Luciérnaga Association – Asperger Navarra), Onabide Association, ONCE (National Organization of the Blind of Spain), Río Irati Center – Caja Navarra Foundation, Saray (Navarre Breast Cancer Association), and Xilema Foundation.

These 36 organizations find in the MUN a space open to diversity, as Daniel Franco, a program collaborator, explains: “With SociARTE, I try to foster a relationship of active listening; we strive to understand each person’s specific needs so they can enjoy our museum and what it has to offer, but at the same time, we use SociARTE as a way to understand how we can leverage the art and activities at the MUN to develop or create projects they can implement within their own communities. We focus heavily on emotional self-esteem, confidence, caring for one another in society, how to face fears, and even other ways of communicating beyond the verbal. Our intention is to begin building a community that understands coexistence as an active endeavor, a way of being and living from a pluralistic perspective—something that art understands well.”

Over the past five years, the program has experienced exponential growth. In its current edition, SociARTE has reached 1,808 participants across a total of 113 scheduled activities. Since its first edition, growth has been continuous and significant, both in terms of the number of participants and the number of activities offered. Thus, in the first edition of SociARTE, five years ago, a total of 356 attendees participated in 16 organized activities; in the second edition, the number rose to 630 participants across 35 events; this increase continued in the third edition, with 1,075 attendees across 63 activities, and also in the fourth edition, with 1,344 registered participants across 87 activities

Now that it has celebrated its fifth anniversary, SociARTE is looking toward the future of the program, striving to offer more experiences, tools, and resources so that, together with social organizations in Navarre, it can help create a world that is more inclusive and open to diversity.