Artefactoria a group of Latin American Contemporary artists that began working together in 1982 after graduating from the School of Fine Arts in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Artefactoría was founded by Xavier Patiño, Jorge Velarde, Marcos Restrepo, Marco Alvarado, Flavio Álava, Paco Cuesta and art historian, Juan Castro y Velázquez. The artists of Artefactoría are inspired by the sociopolitical situation in their country Ecuador. Actually they are part of the conceptual art movement. In the year 2001 with the support of the culture department of the Banco Central del Ecuador, headed by Freddy Olmedo, the remaining members founded ITAE, Instituto Superior Tecnologico de Artes del Ecuador, an institute dedicated to the teaching of art, including painting, sculpting, etching and digital arts.