Maryland-based Brazilian cultural arts nonprofit EducArte has unveiled a new visual identity to more effectively convey our mission to bring equity to the Brazilian cultural arts community in Maryland and the DC region. The new design expresses EducArte’s unique, joyful brand and incorporates elements from Brazilian folk arts, especially from northeastern Brazil and Brasília.
Now in its fourth year as a nonprofit organization, EducArte is successfully growing from a startup to a small grassroots organization, guided by our values of elevating equity and diversity in the arts. We bring enlightening, engaging, and exciting performing arts experiences to the Brazilian and non-Brazilian public in our area.
To better convey our mission, values, and experiences to Brazilians and the general public, EducArte engaged Baltimore-based designer Raquel Castedo, Ph.D, originally from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, to redesign EducArte’s visual identity. EducArte asked Castedo to create a design that would present us as a vibrant arts organization with strong connections to Latin American culture.
“We wanted a new design that reflects our respect for the history, knowledge, and culture bearers that carry on and share Brazilian and other traditional arts,” said Pablo de Oliveira, EducArte’s executive director.
Our new design is colorful and joyful, incorporating elements from Brazilian folk arts, especially from northeastern Brazil and Brasília. These regions of Brazil are especially significant to EducArte’s co-founders, de Oliveira and Kate Spanos. De Oliveira’s roots are in northeastern Brazil (his father is from Bahia) and he grew up in Brasília. Spanos and de Oliveira also spent an intensive six months studying popular dance and music cultures in the northeastern state of Pernambuco on a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Grant in 2018. The lively combination of geometric shapes, colors, and organic motifs nods to the Northeast’s African and indigenous heritages and natural beauty, as well as takes inspiration from Niemeyer’s modernist architectural design in Brasília.
“My goal was to infuse EducArte’s visual identity with the vibrant spirit of Brazilian folk arts and a modern design twist from the cherished regions of northeastern Brazil and Brasília,” said Castedo of her design. “The modular shapes, patterns, lettering, and colors represent a lively, inclusive, uplifting organization that celebrates and elevates Brazilian and Latin American cultural expressions.”
The design enables us to more clearly promote the programs we offer, including our concerts, workshops, and lectures. We hope our community feels welcome, represented, and proud to see their visual symbols professionally designed. Our enhanced identity will help us expand our community driven by passionate practitioners and enthusiasts of Brazilian and Latin American cultural expressions.
Thanks to the Maryland State Arts Council and Ednaldo Silva for their support of this project.