National Museum of Mexican Art

Last updated
National Museum of Mexican Art
NewNMMAlogo.png
National Museum of Mexican Art entrance.jpg
Museum entrance.
National Museum of Mexican Art
Established1982 (1982)
Location1852 W. 19th Street
Chicago, IL 60608 US
Coordinates 41°51′22″N87°40′23″W / 41.856162°N 87.672948°W / 41.856162; -87.672948 Coordinates: 41°51′22″N87°40′23″W / 41.856162°N 87.672948°W / 41.856162; -87.672948
Type Art Museum
FounderCarlos Tortelero [1]
PresidentCarlos Tortelero
Public transit access CTA Bus routes :
Routes 9 and 50

CTA 'L' (Pink Line) :
Damen or 18th St.
Website nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org

The National Museum of Mexican Art (NMMA), formerly known as the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, is a museum featuring Mexican, Latino, and Chicano art and culture. It is located in Harrison Park in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The museum was founded in 1982 by Carlos Tortolero and opened on March 27, 1987. It is the only Latino museum accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. The museum describes itself as the largest Latino cultural institution in America. [2]

Contents

Admission to the museum is free. [3]

History

Carlos Tortolero and a group of Mexican-American teachers first formed the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum in 1982. [4] The museum building in Harrison Park opened in 1987 and was expanded in 2001. The design on the façade of the building was inspired by the friezes of Mitla in Oaxaca, Mexico. [5]

The NMMA ran the radio station WRTE 90.5 FM, called Radio Arte, a non-profit, community station from late 1996 to December 30, 2012. In Spring 2011, the museum announced that the radio station and the building it has been in since the late 1990s had been put up for sale due to financial issues. On June 22, 2012, it was announced that Chicago Public Media had purchased the license of WRTE FM. On December 31, 2012, Chicago Public Media took control of the frequency after FCC approval, thus ending its run as the only Latino-owned broadcast station of any kind in the Chicago area.

The name of the museum was changed to the National Museum of Mexican Art in December 2006. This name change reflects the status of the museum as the only member of the American Alliance of Museums dedicated to Latino culture.

Collections

The museum has a permanent collection featuring prominent works by Mexican artists and artifacts from Mexican history. The permanent exhibit "Mexicanidad: Our Past is Present" explores the history of Mexico in five stages: Pre-Cuauhtémoc Mexico, Colonial Mexico, Mexico from Independence to Revolution, Post-Mexican Revolution to Present-day Mexico and The Mexican Experience in the US.

Annual Día de los Muertos exhibit

Every October, the museum has a Día de los Muertos ("Day of the Dead") exhibit which features altars and Día de los Muertos-related art by Chicago-area and international artists. This exhibit is the nation's largest.

Part of the museum's 2022 Dia de Muertos exhibit. National Museum of Mexican Art ofrenda.jpg
Part of the museum's 2022 Día de Muertos exhibit.
First Lady Jill Biden visiting the museum. Jill Biden visit to National Museum of Mexican Art FBiVYKSX0BAJtIv.jpg
First Lady Jill Biden visiting the museum.

Other initiatives

The National museum of art also has a program of arts education, performance and community initiatives. In 1994, the museum created two new festivals, Del Corazon: the Mexican Performing Arts Festival and the Sor Juana Festival, dedicated to an important Mexicana scholar. In 1997, the museum created the Yollocalli Arts Reach.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Day of the Dead</span> Mexican multi-day holiday

The Day of the Dead is a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6, may be included depending on the locality. It is widely observed in Mexico, where it largely developed, and is also observed in other places, especially by people of Mexican heritage. Although related to the simultaneous Christian remembrances for Hallowtide, it has a much less solemn tone and is portrayed as a holiday of joyful celebration rather than mourning. The multi-day holiday involves family and friends gathering to pay respects and to remember friends and family members who have died. These celebrations can take a humorous tone, as celebrants remember funny events and anecdotes about the departed.

The Mission District, commonly known as The Mission, is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. One of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Mission District's name is derived from Mission San Francisco de Asís, built in 1776 by the Spanish. The Mission is historically one of the most notable center of the city's Chicano/Mexican-American community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lower West Side, Chicago</span> Community area in Chicago, Illinois, United States

Lower West Side is a community area on the West Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is three miles southwest of the Chicago Loop and its main neighborhood is Pilsen. The Heart of Chicago is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of the Lower West Side.

El Muerto, also known as El Muerto: The Aztec Zombie, is a fictional character and comic book superhero created by American comics creator Javier Hernandez and published through his own imprint Los Comex. The comic book follows the story of 21-year-old Diego de la Muerte, who while on his way to a local Dia de los Muertos festival in Whittier, California, is abducted and sacrificed by the Aztec gods of death and destiny only to return to earth one year later with supernatural powers. The character made his first appearance in a xeroxed black-and-white preview comic titled Daze of the Dead: The Numero Uno Edition. The initial series of El Muerto was met with critical success and the character's popularity has led to several adaptations in other media including a live-action award-winning independent film starring Wilmer Valderrama.

Ester Hernández is a California Bay Area Chicanx visual artist recognized for her prints and pastels focusing on farm worker rights, cultural, political, and Chicana feminist issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Self Help Graphics & Art</span>

Self-Help Graphics & Art, Inc. is a community arts center with a mix Beaux-Arts and vernacular architecture in East Los Angeles, California, United States. The building was built in 1927, and was designed by Postle & Postle. Formed during the cultural renaissance that accompanied the Chicano Movement, Self Help, as it is sometimes called, was one of the primary centers that incubated the nascent Chicano art movement, and remains important in the Chicano art movement, as well as in the greater Los Angeles community, today. SHG also hosts musical and other performances, and organizes Los Angeles's annual Day of the Dead festivities. Throughout its history, the organization has worked with well-known artists in the Los Angeles area such as Los Four and the East Los Streetscapers, but it has focused primarily on training and giving exposure to young and new artists, many of whom have gone on to national and international prominence.

WRTE is an American radio station broadcasting a public radio / jazz format. It is licensed to Chicago, Illinois, United States, and serves the city of Chicago. The station is owned by Chicago Public Media. WRTE broadcasts in the HD Radio format.

Benito Juarez Community Academy,, is a public 4–year high school in the Pilsen neighborhood on the west side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Juarez is named for Mexican president Benito Pablo Juárez García. The school is a part of the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) district. As of 2014 it is the largest high school in Pilsen. It was designed by architect Pedro Ramírez Vázquez.

Rudy Lozano was a labor activist and community organizer from Little Village, Chicago, Illinois. Lozano was important in organizing "Black-Brown unity" in the election of Harold Washington, the first African American mayor of Chicago. Lozano was murdered shortly after Washington's election, which was "a severe setback for the Chicago Mexican community, [who] lost a dynamic, rising political star and their major liaison in the Washington camp."

The culture of Washington, D.C. is reflected in its status as the capital of the United States and the presence of the federal government, its large Black population, and its role as the largest city in the Chesapeake Bay region. The presence of the U.S. federal government, in particular, has been instrumental in developing numerous cultural institutions throughout the city, such as museums and performing arts centers. The city's historic Black population has also helped drive cultural activities and artistic pursuits. During the early 20th century, for example, Washington's U Street Corridor became an important center for African American culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">El Museo Latino</span> United States historic place

El Museo Latino is a museum featuring Latino and Hispanic art and history that is located at 4701 South 25th Street in South Omaha, Nebraska. Established in 1993, by Magdalena García, it is the first Latino art and history museum and cultural center in the Midwest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herminia Albarrán Romero</span> Mexican-American artist

Herminia Albarrán Romero is a Mexican-American artist known for her papel picado and altar-making. She received a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2005, which is the United States' highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lalo Alcaraz</span> American cartoonist (born 1964)

Lalo Alcaraz is an American cartoonist most known for being the author of the comic La Cucaracha, the first nationally syndicated, politically themed Latino daily comic strip. Launched in 2002, La Cucaracha has become one of the most controversial in the history of American comic strips.

The Museo Alameda was the largest Latino museum in the USA and the first formal Smithsonian affiliate outside of Washington D.C., located in the historic Market Square in Downtown San Antonio, Texas. In 1996, Secretary I. Michael Heyman of the Smithsonian Institution announced a physical presence of the Smithsonian in San Antonio and gave birth to the Smithsonian's affiliations program. In May of the same year, Governor George W. Bush signed a joint resolution of the Texas legislature establishing the Museo Alameda as the official State Latino Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Side, Chicago</span> District in Illinois, United States

The West Side is one of the three major sections of the city of Chicago, Illinois, U.S. The other two sections within Chicago that associate with the West Side are the North Side and the South Side. The West Side consists of communities that are of historical, cultural, and ideological importance to the history and development of Chicago. On the flag of Chicago, the West Side is represented by the central white stripe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karen Boccalero</span> American nun and artist (1933–1997)

Karen Boccalero was an American nun, fine artist, and founder and former director of Self-Help Graphics & Art.

Washington, D.C. is the capital of the United States and home to over 600,000 residents. Its diversity has fostered a culture that is unique to the country. Washington, D.C. has a wide range of restaurants, theaters, historic sites, and events.

Sonia Amalia Romero is an American artist, she is known for her printmaking, mixed media linocut prints, murals, and public art based in Los Angeles. She is known for depicting Los Angeles, Latin American imagery, and Chicano themes in her work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antonio Pelayo</span> American artist, illustrator, and event producer

Antonio Pelayo is an artist, illustrator, and event producer who focuses on the Latino community of Southern California. He is also an inker at the Walt Disney Animation Studios Ink & Paint Department.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts</span> United States historic place

Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts (MCCLA) is an arts nonprofit that was founded in 1977, and is located at 2868 Mission Street in the Mission District in San Francisco, California. They provide art studio space, art classes, an art gallery, and a theater. Their graphics department is called Mission Grafica, and features at studio for printmaking and is known for the hand printed posters.

References

  1. Savedra, Madison (20 October 2022). "National Museum Of Mexican Art In Pilsen Gets $500K To Expand Educational Programs". Block Club Chicago. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  2. V.v.B (5 October 2017). "Latinos have become Chicago's second-largest ethnic group". The Economist .
  3. Greszes, Sam. "11 Completely Free Things to Do in Chicago". Thrillist. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  4. Villafranca-Guzmán, Nancy; Tortolero, Carlos (2010). "The National Museum of Mexican Art: A New Model for Museums". The Journal of Museum Education. 35 (1): 83–92. ISSN   1059-8650 . Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  5. Hautzinger, Daniel (29 September 2022). "11 Latino Architects Whose Work Can Be Found Around Chicago". WTTW Chicago. Retrieved 29 October 2022.