Guiri Guest Elizabeth is a designer, graphic artist and urbanophile living in Madrid. She lived in New York for ten years and graduated in May from the MFA Communications Design program at Pratt. She loves being surrounded by art, architecture and design, and has a passion for the hidden narrative of the city and “off the beaten track” places.

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La Casa Encendida

When I first discovered La Casa Encendida I was still in New York, planning my move to Madrid, and I was so thrilled to find a connection (however remote) to a creative community in my new neighborhood. So after not even three days of living here, of course I stopped in to check it out. It is a beautiful space with four levels and a large open performance area in the center. Their programming is diverse, focusing on avant-garde art and theater. The current exhibition, La Caballeria Roja (The Red Cavalry), contains a veritable wonderland of Russian Constructivist art and sculpture, with some experimental surprises.

Going up the stairs takes you to the labyrinth of classrooms where they teach every design-related computer program you’ve ever heard of, from photo retouching to After Effects. There’s a laboratory for video artists to work on their projects and a library/resource center, available gratis for all. So clearly this is the place to learn video editing in Madrid, and they also have an “artist in residence” program, which has a long history of supporting young artists. Also quite randomly on the roof is a permanent botanical garden, to teach kids (small and large) about the different indigenous plant species found in El Retiro.

La Casa Encendida is a great place to connect with if you are interested in art, would like to learn more about it, or get the creative bug when you are visiting or living in Madrid. The classes are all in Spanish, but that’s good if you’re like me and need some practice!

Details:

La Casa Encendida, Ronda Valencia, 2 28012 Madrid

http://www.lacasaencendida.es

Free admission