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La Salle Natural Sciences Museum Costa Rica

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Haga click en el siguiente enlace para leer está página en Español: Museo de Ciencias Naturales La Salle en Costa Rica

La Salle Natural Sciences Museum Costa Rica was established in 1960. Its founder and current Director, Brother Eduardo Fernández Bárcena, a native of Burgos, Spain, as a professor of La Salle High School was led at first to pick up some jobs and application tasks and research produced by secondary school students in the Natural Science area, which served as encouragement for more students to become interested in observing and studying the biotic, so rich and varied in Costa Rica.

Subsequently Mr. Gregory Litwin was contacted, a person dedicated to the exotic birds importation from the several continents to supply zoos both from United States and Europe. Some of the specimens agonized in our territory, so they became a permanent donation to the museum during its early years, this fact coupled with collaboration from many people who love nature, led 10 years later with the unconditional support from the Lasallian Parent Dynamic Association, to build the first stage of the building, of 1.500m2, which today houses the collections, turned into an exhibition field of 2430m2, after undergoing several extensions.

It should be noted that almost all the specimens have been dissected by Brother Eduardo, who in the absence of taxidermists in the country and the lack of economic resources, had to perform the dissections of animals in the museum’s laboratory, outside of his working hours, which at his beginnings were prolonged until late at night because at the time, there wasn’t even a cooling chamber.

Currently the museum is part of the educational structure of La Salle University. It’s outpouring of great historical and scientific value, place it as one of the most complete museums in Latin America, counting at the moment with over 55,000 specimens on permanent display. In addition the museum has more than 65,000 specimens in zoology, paleontology, archeology, and mineralogy, including an spectacular dinosaur.

Address: Southwest Sabana, district: Mata Redonda, cantón: San José, provincia: San José, Costa Rica. Zone postal code: 10108.
GPS Coordinates: 9.933386,-84.110344 (9°56’0.19″N, 84°06’37.24″W)
Schedule: from Monday through Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Website: www.lasalle.ed.cr/museo
 Phone: +506 2232-5179

Address map: Click here to view directions from Central Park, San Jose, Costa Rica TO La Salle Natural Sciences Museum in San Jose, Costa Rica at Google Maps

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The Costa Rican Art Museum

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Haga click en el siguiente enlace para leer está página en Español: Museo de Arte Costarricense

The Costa Rican Art Museum (Museo de Arte Costarricense) was, since 1940, the terminal for the first International Airport in Costa Rica. It immediately became known as La Sabana Airport, as it was located in the Metropolitan Park of the same name.

The initiative came from the then President of the Republic, León Cortés Castro, who proposed to the engineer and architect José María Barrantes (1890-1966) to design an air terminal. Barrantes merged a Spanish colonial style with a moderate architectural design of great purity lines and exquisite artistic taste. The project was approved in 1937 and the engineer Luis Paulino Jiménez Montealegre was in charge of the construction. The work of draining and leveling the land to support the aircraft traffic was directed by Max Efinger. It opened on April 7th, 1940 under the administration of León Cortés Castro (1936-1940). The building was an international terminal until 1955, when it moved to its current location in Alajuela. However, it continued providing transit services for private light aircraft up to the early seventies. Under the administration of Daniel Oduber Quirós (1974-1978) and the efforts of the then Culture Minister Don Guido Sáenz González, in October 1977 and in accordance with Law # 6091, the Costa Rican Art Museum was created.

The work of remodeling the building to suit the needs of a museum started in November 1977 and concluded in April 1978. These works were made by architects Edgar Brenes and Jorge Bertheau. Years later, according to Executive Decree 17338-C, published in Official Gazette No. 235 on December 11th, 1986, the building was declared of historical and architectural interest. The building consists of a basement, first and second levels with access to large roofs (former viewpoints) and a central tower.

Address: Former International Airport in Costa Rica at La Sabana Park, district: Mata Redonda, canton: San Jose, province: San Jose, Costa Rica. Zone postal code: 10108.
GPS Coordinates: 9.935067,-84.098308 (9°56’06.24″N, 84°05’53.91″W)
Schedule: from Tuesday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Phone: +506 2222-7155
Website: www.musarco.go.cr

Address map: Click here to view directions from Central Park, San Jose, Costa Rica TO the Costa Rican Art Museum in San Jose, Costa Rica at Google Maps

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Castella’s Conservatory Theater, Costa Rica

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The Arnoldo Herrera González Theater from Castella’s Conservatory, is located next to the Datsun-NISSAN Car Dealership in North Sabana, it is an exemplary educational institution, which seeks to belong to students, alumni, teachers, parents and the rest of the Castella community to provide a service to the wonderful country that feeds it with resources and the best people, and to the global community.

Arnoldo Herrera Theater, is the third largest theater in the country and for years it has given joy to students just like one more classroom from the Conservatory, and is also an art space for the people of Costa Rica.

Arnoldo Herrera González was a daily example for children and adolescents for over 43 years of effort, patience, delights and battles, of reinventing teaching as director Castella’s director.

When in 1953 he started the creation of an institution that bonded academic requirements with the artistic practice, few believed in the project. Thirty-eight years later, when his work was recognized with the Magón Award, approval was unanimous: Mr. Herrera deserved the award and more, and his students and alumni were assurance of it. As with other awards, we can list books, sculptures, paintings and compositions, the Arnoldo Herrera legacy allows a long list of illustrious graduates from Castella’s classrooms, all of them, in a kind of domino effect, have been teachers that multiplied and multiply Mr. Herrera’s teachings.

This conveying of feeling that Mr. Herrera practiced, he learned it in a household that promoted the expression of the senses, especially through the music. Son of composer Mariano Herrera and Catherine Gonzalez, from his early childhood began his musical instruction. At fifteen he was a music professor in Puntarenas and Tres Ríos and at 19 a scholarship enabled him to leave to Mexico, where he studied composition with Rodolfo Haffter and orchestra direction with Carlos Chaves.

Upon returning to Costa Rica in 1948, he led the National Symphony Orchestra, first as interim and then as a guest. At the same time, he started giving lessons in the Education Faculty at the University of Costa Rica, at the Normal School in Heredia and at Seminario High School. Many artists have had this inclination to education: almost none had undertaken as Herrera, the foundation of an institution like Castella.

Herrera recovered in 1953 the legacy of Carlos Millet de Castella, who donated 100 thousand colones and land, next to one side of La Sabana Park, the first facilities of the Castella were built. The main material was available: with the lessons the task began, by knowing how to reconcile the academic and artistic disciplines. Conciliation in freedom and in addition: forming inventive, critical, sensitive to the inner and outer self young people. That every boy or girl shall find “the bread that fits the size of their hunger, the shoe that fits”, he said later. Although it was an unusual project, crazy to many, the Education Minister at the time Uladislao Gámez authorized it and the “dream factory” became operational in 1954 with an initial enrollment of just 35 children. When Don Arnold died in 1996, inscription was over 1600 students, each of them a bit their son or daughter.

In addition to the immense work that was the establishment of Castella’s Conservatory, Arnoldo Herrera was orchestra director and a high value cultural promoter for the dissemination of the Costa Rican artistic music; he stood out as director of the Symphonic Orchestra of the National Radio and Television system from 1979, with which he completed 76 presentations. As founder and director of the National Opera in 1960, he led to a revival of the Costa Rican bel chant. Mr. Arnoldo Herrera died on March 4th, 1996.

Address: next to the Datsun-NISSAN Car dealership, in North Sabana, district: Mata Redonda, canton: San Jose, province: San Jose, Costa Rica. Zone postal code: 10108.
GPS Coordinates: 9.938008,-84.099183 (9°56’16.83″N, 84°05’57.06″W)
Website: www.conservatoriodecastella.com
Phone:+(506) 2232-0265 / 2293 8334

Address map: Click here to view directions from Central Park, San Jose, Costa Rica TO the Castella’s Conservatory Theater in San Jose, Costa Rica at Google Maps