The ATELIÊ VOLANTE is an artistic-educational program with two complementary cycles:

(1) Free drawing courses for children and teenagers in public plazas of the city;

(2) Professional training for young apprentices in graphic arts, recycling and

sustainable design, with the manufacture of products made of discarded materials –

paper/cardboard (tubes/boxes), wood (broom handles), plastic (bottles) and rubber (sandals/cameras).

Mounted in a cargo tricycle, the ATELIÊ VOLANTE circulates through the city,

giving support for the drawing courses. While adapted as a stand,

the tricycle serves for the exposition, customization and commercialization

of the products, functioning as a 2D-3D express print station.

Joining the courses, children and teenagers socioeconomically distant have the

opportunity to practice together the inclusive and universal language of drawing.

Taking part in all the steps of production and running of a social business,

the young apprentices are able to develop their own talents, feel engaged with

the whole process and motivated to make the program self-sustainable.

As the ATELIÊ VOLANTE is a collective program, there is no owner, just a coordinator

and a network of collaborators – professionals, teachers and students from different areas:

art, design, architecture, education, journalism, administration.

In 2020, in a partnership with the ECO (School of Communication), the program became

an extension activity of the UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro).

The ATELIÊ VOLANTE program promotes sustainable design in its social, environmental,

economic, ethical and aesthetical dimensions, addressing 11 of the 17 SDGs

(United Nations Sustainable Development Goals).

The ATELIÊ VOLANTE program deals with:

– Waste discard in big cities like Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo;

– Social apartheid between children since early ages in Brazil;

– Lack of professional training for the young people of low-income communities;

– Visual analphabetism;

– Unconscious consumerism;

– Abandonment of public spaces.

The ATELIÊ VOLANTE program solutions are:

– The recycling and repurpose of materials into new products;

– The meeting of children from different economic conditions by means of drawing;

– Professional training in graphic arts and sustainable design for young apprentices;

– Visual education for children, teenagers and young adults;

– Conscious consumption and responsible discard;

– Adoption of the public places by the youngsters, promoting the sense of citizenship.