Programmatic
Advisor to the Executive Director
Institute of Puerto Rican Culture

Jessabet Vivas Capó, Esq., MA is the Programmatic Advisor to the Executive Director of the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (ICP) since 2017, where she is also the Director of the Folk Arts and Creative Industries Program.

She modernized the Folk Arts Program at ICP with the support of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other Foundations. In addition to updating and digitizing the database of ascribed artisans, VivasCapó offered capacity building activities providing entrepreneurial workshops that would allow to improve the artists presentations and sales. She developed, in coordination with a team from the University of Puerto Rico, the first digital application (app) showcasing artisans by field area or specialty with their contact information. She also provided tools to enhance the use of
artisans’ online presence to increase sales, allowing continuity of income throughout the
COVID-19 pandemic. Vivas Capó led the collaboration between Brands of Puerto Rico and
ICP, which resulted in the participation of artisan works on the company’s online sales
platform that features goods from Puerto Rico. She has also facilitated the sale of artisan
works in the Diaspora.

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Jessabet Vivas is adamant in evidencing the economic value of the creative industries sector
or Orange Economy and has worked together with the sector to gather and portray the
respective data, particularly of the impact of folk art fairs. Together with the Executive
Director, Vivas Capó spearheaded the development of the Creative Districts Act, which
awaits the Legislative vote, and has the support of the Executive Branch. Currently, Vivas
Capó works on the publication of a bilingual Folk Arts Catalog, showcasing over 60 folk arts
pieces with essays that explain their cultural, historical, political, utilitarian, and aesthetic
contexts.

Vivas Capó has served as reviewer for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Folk Arts
Program. She also nominated Nellie Vera, a bobbin lace artisan, for the NEA National
Heritage Award. She was honored with the recognition in 2021.

Jessabet was part of the Board of Directors of 80grados, a cultural digital magazine, from
April 2011 – May 2016; and served as a Cultural Manager for Cambio en Clave (salsa dancing
project for social change) from January 2011 – February 2016. As an attorney, she worked
for four years at the Corporation for Civil Action and Education, a non-profit organization
that channeled civil rights cases for the incarcerated population rising from Morales Feliciano
et. al. federal class action. She holds a BA in Political Science, MA in Cultural Management,
and a Juris Doctor from the University of Puerto Rico.