Aug. 23 @ 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Join us for the Closing Reception of Creating Encuentros: Changarrito 2012-2024
When: Friday, August 23rd, 2024
Where: 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Parking: Please see the Museum’s Visit webpage
Admission: Free for Museum Members. Become a Mexic-Arte Museum Member! $10 for non-members*
$25 Special Discount on Full Year Individual Memberships at the door only!
Antojitos: Licha’s Cantina y Paletas from Que Monita’s Ice Cream
Refreshments: Surtierra Tequila, Meanwhile Brewing and Live Oak Brewing
*Tickets can only be purchased in person at the Museum Store desk. No online ticket purchasing.
The Mexic-Arte Museum invites you to the Closing Reception for the current exhibition, Creating Encuentros: Changarrito 2012-2024, on Friday, August 23rd starting at 6:00pm. Guests are welcomed to enjoy any refreshments, antojitos, natural flavored paletas, and music from a live DJ; all provided by Mexic-Arte Museum.
About the exhibition:
April 12 – August 24
If you find yourself walking through the streets of Mexico, you will inevitably encounter a changarrito, a food cart, or locally run shop. Changarritos, enticing with the smell of antojitos, the persistent beckoning of vendors, or sheer curiosity, are difficult to ignore. These carts exist freely, usually outside of the controls, supervision, or instruction of formal institutions. More than just a business, changarritos are an integral part of Mexican culture, communities, and families.
In 2005, artist Máximo González initiated a Changarrito cart as a possible platform for artists to present their art to the people without having to be accepted by traditional art spaces or official curatorship, blurring the boundaries between established galleries and tianguis (informal street markets). Changarrito offers opportunities to artists and those interested in purchasing art; either to collect, use, or give away to a loved one. More so, the program creates the possibility to develop art as an encuentro: a moment of connection between the artists and the public, a moment that is profoundly personal and collective.
From its inception in Mexico City, the Changarrito has appeared in twenty-two cities, brought to Austin by Leslie Moody Castro and became active at the Mexic-Arte Museum in 2012. Since the program’s implementation, dozens of artists have used it to display their art and interact with the public on 5th Street and Congress Avenue. In 2020, with the rise of Covid, the Changarrito residency introduced a digital component called changarreando. Now, more people than ever can learn about and engage with the monthly Changarrito resident artists thanks to the Changarrito art cart residency, which has resumed its in-person component while continuing with its digital feature.
