Grande Centroamerica

Entrepreneurs

Costa Rican entrepreneurs Tania Devoto, Jorge Cutié,  Massi Devoto, and Gustavo Arrieta have accumulated years of marketing, advertising, and branding experience before combining forces. From owning a market research firm to working in some of the most important public relations firms in the region to experience in television production, these four entrepreneurs have developed an array of skills and expertise they now bring to Grande Centroamerica.

Problem

“There are so many wonderful art and performance exhibitions that travel around the world,” Tania explains, “but not many of them actually come to Costa Rica. These are incredible exhibitions and wonderful opportunities for our children to learn about the outside world. Knowledge travels around the world, but it doesn’t always reach here.”

Business Model

Tania and her team decided to start their own company, Grande Centroamerica, that would focus on attracting high quality art and performance exhibitions to San Jose, Costa Rica. “We wanted to find a way to capture the knowledge that is circling the globe,” Tania stated. “This was our way of doing just that.” The company’s first exhibit, simply entitled “da Vinci – The Genius,” showcased the enigmatic brilliance of the iconic Renaissance-era artist. The exhibition attracted 37,000 paying customers over a six-week period, numbers that surpassed all expectations.

Impact

In addition to creating unique opportunities for Costa Ricans to be exposed to world class art exhibitions and live performances, Devoto states that the event helped to foster a community of “open-mindedness” among local residents. “They looked at the world in a different way,” Devoto explains. “I could hear three-year old children talking about how they wanted to travel and learn how to paint like da Vinci. It was a wonderful thing. People started exploring their own artistic talents by beginning to draw and create right at the exhibit.”

The Future

“We want to get a solid foundation right here in Costa Rica,” Devoto concludes. “In fact, we’re planning on holding two more exhibitions similar to the da Vinci one. Then, we want to take the idea to all of Central America and eventually partner with governments and schools.”