The National Museum of Mexican Art (NMMA), formerly known as the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, is a museum featuring

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

, Latino, and

Chicano Chicano or Chicana is a chosen identity for many Mexican Americans in the United States. The label ''Chicano'' is sometimes used interchangeably with ''Mexican American'', although the terms have different meanings. While Mexican-American ident ...

art and culture. It is located in Harrison Park in the Pilsen neighborhood of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

. 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 American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

. The museum describes itself as the largest Latino cultural institution in America. Admission to the museum is free.

History

Carlos Tortolero and a group of Mexican-American teachers first formed the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum in 1982. 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

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

s of

Mitla Mitla is the second-most important archeological site in the state of Oaxaca in Mexico, and the most important of the Zapotec culture. The site is located 44 km from the city of Oaxaca, in the upper end of the Tlacolula Valley, one of the ...

in Oaxaca, Mexico. 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

dedicated to Latino culture.

Collections

The museum has a permanent collection featuring prominent works by

Mexican art Various types of visual arts developed in the geographical area now known as Mexico. The development of these arts roughly follows the history of Mexico, divided into the prehispanic Mesoamerican era, the colonial period, with the period after ...

ists and artifacts from Mexican history. The permanent exhibit "Mexicanidad: Our Past is Present" explores the history of Mexico in five stages: Pre-

Cuauhtémoc Cuauhtémoc (, ), also known as Cuauhtemotzín, Guatimozín, or Guatémoc, was the Aztec ruler ('' tlatoani'') of Tenochtitlan from 1520 to 1521, making him the last Aztec Emperor. The name Cuauhtemōc means "one who has descended like an eagle ...

Mexico, Colonial Mexico, Mexico from

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the stat ...

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

, 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 The Day of the Dead ( es, Día de Muertos or ''Día de los Muertos'') 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 obser ...

'' ("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. National Museum of Mexican Art ofrenda

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 Sor may refer to: * Fernando Sor (1778–1839), Spanish guitarist and composer * Sor, Ariège, a French commune * SOR Libchavy, a Czech bus manufacturer * Sor, Azerbaijan, a village * Sor, Senegal, an offshore island * Sor River, a river in the Oro ...

Festival, dedicated to an important Mexicana scholar. In 1997, the museum created the Yollocalli Arts Reach. The NMMA also ran the radio station

WRTE WRTE (90.7 FM) 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 ...

90.5 FM, 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 pending FCC approval thus ending NMMA's 15 years of ownership and on December 31, 2012, Chicago Public Media took control of the frequency after FCC approval thus ending its stint as the only Latino owned broadcast station of any kind in the immediate Chicago area.

References

External links

* {{authority control Lower West Side, Chicago Mexican-American culture in Chicago

Art museums and galleries in Illinois Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria an ...