A appointment with the artist in Bogota It is an individual and weekly outing to fill your imagination with the images, sounds and textures of the city: explore La Candelaria, climb Monserrate, get lost in a market or spend an hour in a museum. The city offers free museums, hills, huge parks and coffee neighborhoods ideal for the creative walk proposed by Julia Cameron.
Why Bogota is a perfect city for a date with the artist
The Colombian capital is located at 2,600 meters, and that height gives it a unique atmosphere: the sky changes quickly, the savannah surrounds the city and the eastern hills are always in the background as a backdrop. For those who practice the Artist's Way, Bogota is a luxury: it combines a walkable historic center, a network of public museums with free or affordable access and giant green spaces where you can disappear for an hour.
In addition, Bogota's café life—especially in Chapinero and Zona G—turns any morning into an opportunity to sit and observe. The appointment with the artist does not ask for money: it asks for attention. And in Bogota there is plenty of stimulus.
18 corners of Bogota for your date with the artist
You don't have to spend money or go far. The appointment with the artist consists of going out alone, without a cell phone or company, to a place that gives you images, textures and silence. Here you have specific ideas, ordered by type of plan, so you can choose according to your week.
La Candelaria on foot
The historic center, with its colorful facades, colonial balconies and steep alleys, is a visual feast. Walk aimlessly along Carrera 2 and Chorro de Quevedo and let the architecture give you images.
Gold Museum
One of the most impressive collections of pre-Columbian goldsmithing in the world. Going alone, without rushing, looking at one piece at a time, is a perfect artist appointment for a rainy day.
Monserrate
Climbing the city's tutelary hill—on foot, by funicular or cable car—and contemplating all of Bogota from above rearranges your mind. Height perspective is an antidote to blockage.
José Celestino Mutis Botanical Garden
An oasis of Andean flora and paramo in the heart of the city. Walking among orchids and wetlands, notebook in hand, fills the well with green textures.
Usaquen Flea Market
On Sundays, this colonial neighborhood is filled with artisans, antiques and music. Looking at old objects and live crafts is pure creative raw material.
Botero Museum
Free admission and a collection donated by Fernando Botero himself, with his work and that of international masters. A free treat for an hour of contemplation.
Luis Ángel Arango Library
One of the cultural temples of the city: silent reading rooms, exhibitions and concerts. Ideal if your date is one of reflection and words.
Simon Bolivar Park
The great lung of Bogota, larger than many parks in the world. Walking its perimeter people watching is an expansive and cheap date.
How to plan your appointment with the artist in Bogota
Choose a fixed day and time—many Bogota residents take advantage of Sunday, when the bike lane closes avenues to traffic—and protect them as an unmissable event. Go out without headphones and without your cell phone camera as an excuse not to really look. The objective is not to document: it is to receive.
Alternate indoor appointments (museums, libraries) with outdoor appointments (hills, parks) depending on the weather, which changes quickly in Bogota. Always carry a jacket and a small notebook. And when you get home, don't post anything: let the images sit and appear on their own in your creative work during the week.
The best time and time for your appointment with the artist in Bogota
Bogota has a cool and changeable climate all year round, without marked seasons but with rainier seasons towards April and October; Always carry a light jacket and have an indoor plan in case of a downpour. Timing well makes the date flow rather than becoming a fight against the weather or crowds. The artist appointment works best when the environment is with you, so adapt the plan to the season you are in.
As for the time, the first in the morning and the last in the afternoon are usually the most magical: there are fewer people, the light is more beautiful and the city has a slower pace. Set aside a block of at least an hour—two if you can—and don't fill it with errands. The date is not productivity disguised as a walk: it is time dedicated exclusively to receiving, looking and playing.
Combine the quote with the artist and the morning pages
The date with the artist is only one half of Julia Cameron's method; the other are the morning pages: three pages written by hand every morning, as soon as you wake up, without objective or judge. While the quote fills the well with images, the pages empty the mental noise that covers up creativity. They work as a pair: one receives, the other downloads.
In Bogota you can easily combine both practices. You can write your pages in a cafe in Zona G or Chapinero, or on a bench in Parque de la 93, and then walk to La Candelaria or a museum. Writing the pages outside the home, on a bench or a quiet table before starting your walk, turns the entire morning into a creative ritual. They don't have to be different days: a long quote can start with the pages and continue with the observation.
Common mistakes that ruin the date (and how to avoid them)
The most common mistake is turn the date into a social outing. As soon as you invite someone, it stops being a date with the artist and becomes a plan with friends, which is very good but serves another function. Loneliness is not a defect of the date: it is its active ingredient.
The second error is use mobile. Taking photos, checking messages, or searching for information breaks the mindfulness that makes going out valuable. In a city as photogenic as Bogota, the temptation to document everything is enormous; resist and look with your eyes, not with the camera. The third mistake is to demand a result: the quote does not have to produce a specific idea or be justified with something "useful." Its value appears days later, when the images you collected reappear on their own in your work. Go, see, enjoy and trust the process.
A fourth, more subtle error is treat the appointment as another obligation on the list. If you experience it as a task that must be crossed off, it loses its meaning. The appointment with the artist is a gift you give yourself, not a duty; Approach it with curiosity and lightness, like someone going out to play. And if one day you can't make the full outing, do a small version—fifteen minutes looking out a window also counts—rather than skipping it. Imperfect consistency is worth much more than sporadic perfection: it is the repetition week after week that, over time, truly transforms your relationship with creativity.