THE JOHN LANGDON DOWN FOUNDATION

The John Langdon Down Foundation began as a one-room school house for children with Down syndrome in Mexico City in 1972. Sylvia Escamilla opened the school in response to a lack of services for children with Down syndrome in Mexico. Her son, Eduardo, was one of the first students.

Thanks to Sylvia’s strong character and dauntless spirit, the school, a non-profit organization dependent on donations, has flourished, providing an oasis of educational and recreational services for infants, children, and young adults with Down syndrome in Mexico City. Because the school is not residential, which allows the students to live with their families, many of them travel long distances each day to come to the school. There are currently over 200 students in attendance.

The School of Fine Arts was created in 1993, initially as a painting workshop within the school. The faculty of young Mexican artists provides an environment designed to stimulate the students to develop their own artistic language. As the artistic talent of some of the students became evident, the painting workshop evolved into a comprehensive fine arts program. Pastels, watercolors, oils and acrylics are all available to the students. And in 1997 the academic program was expanded to cover theoretical subjects and technical development in painting, sculpture, and engraving.

One of the program’s primary objectives is to integrate these artists into the sphere of fine arts, and to promote their work as capable and sensitive human beings with individual talents for artistic expression.

For more information about the School of Fine Arts of the John Langdon Down Foundation, contact:
Sylvia Garcia Escamilla, President
Selva 4,
Insurgentes Cuicuilco,
Coyoacan, 04530 Mexico City, Mexico.

E-mail: fjldown5@mail.internet.com.mx
Telephone: (52-5) 666-8580
Fax: (52-5) 606-3809