Juan Sisay was considered one of the most important "primitivista" painters of Guatemala. Born in 1921 in the village of Panul Atitlan, he spent his early years working and therefore could not attend school.

Never instructed formally in the art of painting, he taught himself and developed a unique and personal style. Juan Sisay painted in a time of great civil unrest and social protests, and throughout his career he displayed the talent to represent in a fresh and sincere way the world which surrounded him.

He died on the twenty-first of April, 1989. The Escuela Juan Sisay was founded in his name to help preserve the memory of a person who stood for the preservation of the customs and culture of the indigenous peoples of Guatemala. The school strives to stand by these ideals.