Workshops inside the prison system
Through an agreement with the Costa Rican Ministry of Justice and Peace, we train incarcerated individuals in wood carving, resin and artisanal finishing.
Costa Rica · Law Project 24870
Behind every piece, a craft that rebuilds lives.
Handmade Art is a social-and-labor reintegration company. Every mirror, every coffee dripper, every wooden carving is made inside workshops in rehabilitation centers, where people on a path back to society learn a craft and a sense of self.
What we do, in a page
We bring the work to market
Every piece you buy here pays the artisan's hours. It is not a donation: it is fair trade between someone who makes and someone who takes home.
Support after release
When their sentence ends, participants join our artisan network as suppliers. The craft becomes a legitimate, stable source of income.
Legal framework
What Law Project 24870 proposes
The bill creates the legal figure of Social and Labor Reintegration Company (EISL): organizations that produce goods or services with an explicit social purpose and a personalized 'reintegration agreement' with each beneficiary. Handmade Art has been operating as an EISL before the figure existed in law — we support the bill because it legitimizes the model and opens the door for more people to start over.
Beneficiary populations
- People recovering from psychoactive substance dependence
- People in situation of homelessness
- Former or current inmates in semi-institutional regimes
What the law enables
- Financing through Development Banking
- Free vocational training via INA
- Tax benefits for participating companies
- 50% reduction in workplace-risk insurance premiums
- Tariff exemption for workshop equipment
- Social impact certificate for donors
Behind the brand
The people who make the pieces
Three of the people producing for Handmade Art today. We don't show full names or faces where it isn't ours to show — but their craft, they sign.
Eduardo
Wood carver
Learned to carve inside the rehabilitation center. He now makes the wildlife-framed mirrors that have become the brand's signature.
Jonathan
Finish and varnish
Responsible for color and final polish. Every piece passes through his hands before leaving the workshop.
Jorge
Coffee drippers and small pieces
Specialist in chorreadores — the quintessential Costa Rican coffee craft. Three years with us.
Workshops in operation
Coffee drippers (chorreadores)
Traditional Costa Rican technique. Wood, cloth and frame. A product with steady local and international demand.
Wood carving
Mirror frames, Costa Rican wildlife, carved scenes. The brand's hero product line.
Frames and mirrors
Final assembly, custom-cut mirror, mounting. Coordinated with the carving and finishing workshops.
In partnership with
Who we work with
We operate in partnership with Costa Rica's Ministry of Justice and Peace and with INA (the National Learning Institute), which provides the technical certification of the trades.
How to support
The most direct way is to buy a piece. Every purchase pays real hours of craft, not a label. If your company wants to explore a partnership — reintegration agreement, workshop sponsorship, donation with an impact certificate — get in touch.