Loucette Reppenhagen (42) founded Design Academy Aruba: the only applied creative vocational program in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. “We are already being approached a lot by students and parents from the other islands, such as Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Curaçao, and even by Suriname.”
Moving to Aruba was never the plan. Reppenhagen was working as a marketing and communications manager at a natural burial ground in Zuid-Limburg when she heard about a vacancy for a teacher in Cultural and Artistic Formation (CKV, Culturele en Kunstzinnige Vorming) at Het Schakel College. She applied, got accepted, and emigrated to Aruba.
“I was excited about teaching again, but noticed very quickly that there was no further education program for creative students,” she says. “Mavo students are often done with that when they are 16, which is a very young age to go live and study in the Netherlands on your own. Then they end up just picking any program in Aruba, that they don’t really like, and dropping out follows.” Reppenhagen knew right away that she wanted to do something about this.
Design Academy Aruba
With help from the Ministry of Kingdom Relations, Education, Youth, Innovation, and Sport, she founded Design Academy Aruba: a colorful place for education and coming together, focused on graphic design, product design, and the development of creative skills.
The organization combines education with practical experience and is connected to Openbaar Avond Beroepsonderwijs Aruba (OABA), an institution for adult vocational training. Students follow a full-time mid-level creative vocational program, while also gaining experience through projects, and in collaboration with non-profit organizations. “Creative students don’t just want to learn from books alone, but also make and create things.”
Hype
Ceramics play a big role in the program. According to Reppenhagen, it is Aruba’s oldest art form, which nevertheless runs the risk of disappearing. “By creating a hype, you can breathe new life into it.” The fact that clay is easy to reuse aligns well with the academy’s sustainable vision, where they also work with eco-plastic and organic cotton.
Reppenhagen is the director of the Academy, but she prefers to call herself a coordinator. “My role is mainly to connect the right people with each other, and to put them in the appropriate place,” she says. Regularly, she receives local and international teachers to temporarily teach at the academy. “I think the collaboration with abroad is really great,” she says.
Admission doodles
Soon, the new school year will open, and a new group can start the program. Admission takes place via a portfolio. “That can simply be with doodles: as long as you can show that you have talent,” Reppenhagen says. “If you’ve filled your notebook from cover to cover with scribbles and drawings – you’re our type of student,” she chuckles.
Is Reppenhagen still happy in Aruba? “For now, I just can’t leave!”, she says with a laugh. “I want to grow this place into the ‘creative hub’ of the Caribbean, where people come together and exchange knowledge and experience with each other.”
