A Message from the Director
Beyond the Shape: El arte de Chente Rodriguez – Thank you Chente!
August 3rd will be the last day to view the summer exhibition, Beyond the Shape: El arte de Chente Rodriguez. For many, Vicente, “Chente” has been a friend and a part of the community since the 1970s. He has dedicated his talent to the production of thousands of graphics and illustrations for schools, churches, events and causes. But Chente’s strongest contribution is by far his beautiful artwork that speaks in a universal voice to the human spirit with colors, lines and shapes. Studying at The University of Texas, he developed his passion for color and geometric shapes that he skillfully painted on canvases and paper throughout his lifetime. Chente’s family and fans were amazed at this retrospective of his beautiful paintings and skillful drawings. These vibrant geometric style artworks have filled the Mexic-Arte Museum galleries since April. The exhibition has been viewed by students on school tours, neighbors working downtown, national and international tourists, families strolling in on Sundays and many others. All have enjoyed their discovery of one of Austin’s legacies.
It is with great enthusiasm and appreciation that the Mexic-Arte Museum gives some great news. One of Chente Rodriguez’s major art works, Composition in Circles with Color, is now part of the permanent collection of Mexic-Arte Museum. We thank Chente from the bottom of our hearts! This is a major contribution to the Austin community. This large artwork, 67″ x 124″, painted in 1976 with acrylic on canvas will be added to the museum’s collection and available for all to enjoy and study. Museum collections are built piece by piece. Over four decades Mexic-Arte Museum has collected works by Austin and Latinx artists to preserve and to record the stories of this city.
It has been a great pleasure and honor to work with Chente Rodriguez, a talented and generous individual who has dedicated most of his life to serving the community and to the creation of art. We thank Luisa Fernanda Perez, Curator and Director of Programs and all the Mexic-Arte team who worked collaboratively to present Chente’s artwork in a compelling and beautiful manner.
Chente—his name, his art, his generosity and his kindness—resonate and will continue to resonate throughout the community for years to come. Mil Gracias, Chente, for all you have given to Austin.
Please come by and visit. Just in case you miss it, you can view the exhibit here.
Executive Director
Sylvia Orozco
Exhibitions
Join us as we celebrate the vibrant culmination of Beyond the Shape: El Arte de Chente Rodriguez at our Closing Reception this Friday!
When: Friday, August 1, 2025, from 6 pm to 9 pm
Where: Mexic‑Arte Museum, 419 Congress Ave, Austin, TX
What to Expect: A festive evening with refreshments from Brown Distributing and antojitos from Licha’s Cantina.
Music: DJ Guira King
Complimentary admission for Museum members (with a special gift!) | $10 for non-members
A Heartfelt Thanks:
A sincere thank you to Vicente “Chente” Rodriguez for sharing over five decades of your dynamic geometric artwork. Your distinct vision—rooted in community and cultural identity—has inspired and moved us all.
We also extend our deepest gratitude to our members and supporters whose enthusiasm and attendance brought this exhibition to life. As well as our dedicated team of Museum professionals, contractors, interns and volunteers for their tireless efforts in making this exhibition possible.
This reception isn’t just a farewell — it’s a celebration of Beyond the Shape and the profound impact of Chente’s contributions to Austin’s cultural and artistic landscape. We invite everyone who has supported this exhibition to come together one last time and toast to creativity, community, and the legacy of Chente Rodriguez.
Looking forward to seeing you there!
Read about the exhibit: here.
The Mexic-Arte Museum has been celebrating Día de los Muertos for over 40 years with its Annual Viva La Vida Festival and Parade, accompanied by an exhibition that honors this beloved tradition. For this year we are excited to depart from traditional expressions and embrace a wide range of cultural and artistic responses that extend beyond Dia de los Muertos and instead engage with broader themes of death, nature, geographic space, memory, and the cycles of life.
En lo más negro del verano / In the Darkest Domain of Summer – Opens September 5, 2025
The Fall 2025 exhibition titled En lo más negro del verano / In the Darkest Domain of Summer is a contemplative exhibition inspired by a haunting poem by Peruvian writer Blanca Varela. Thirteen emerging artists respond through painting, ceramics, installation, film, and more, exploring death as an ever-present force woven through memory, mourning, and renewal. Much like Día de los Muertos, these works become echoes of people, places, and histories, inviting visitors to reflect on the cycle of life where beauty and loss intertwine.
Resonating deeply with the spirit of Día de los Muertos as well as other expressions and traditions, Varela’s vision of death parallels the cultural understanding that the departed are not gone, but remain with us in memory, ritual, and spiritual return. This exhibition embraces these cultural continuities while expanding the dialogue to include contemporary responses to mourning, transformation, and rebirth.
Through contemporary expressions that reimagine mourning, transformation, and rebirth, En lo más negro del verano becomes both a guide and a mirror—reflecting the vibrancy and solemnity of death while inviting viewers to consider the cycles of life, nature, and identity.
Visit Mexic-Arte on August 10th from 2 pm – 5 pm to experience TRAMAS, a pop-up exhibition by Mery Godigna Collet.
Preface by Roberto Tejada and Lucia Boni
This Limited Edition book (100) contains seven stories and seven serigraphs.
“The onset of the technological revolution, and with-it, social media, has generated, among other things, a new concept of time, a new form of communication and a new language. Communication has been reduced to slogans and repetition. The news to headlines. And the “truth” has become elastic. Time and attention spans have been cut. We are in a time of transition as we slip into post-human ways of communicating. Cyberculture is blurring the boundaries between humans and machines. In this context we need to be grounded and ask what we are and what we are becoming. Faced with this new reality, my exercise consists of, first, synthesizing the tangle of times, voices and places that make up the narrative to the minimum expression.” Mery Godigna Collet
Mery Godigna Collet explores the coexistence between humans and environment through social and political issues. Her art work is supported by the versatile use of diverse materials, applied in installations, paintings, sculptures, photography and video, challenging the viewer through the use of new techniques and unconventional materials in the making of her art.
Collet has participated in 34 solo and 40 group exhibitions in Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, New York, Miami, New Mexi
Call for Photos for the Ofrenda de la Comunidad
Marking its 42nd year, Mexic-Arte Museum’s Día de los Muertos celebration and the 2025 exhibition, En lo más negro del verano / In the Darkest Domain of Summer (September 5, 2025 – January 4, 2026), in Mexic-Arte invites you to participate in the annual Call for Photos for the community Ofrenda. Each year, altars fill the gallery with memories, photos, and offerings that honor loved ones who are no longer with us. Join us in celebrating, remembering, and keeping this tradition alive together.
Marcando su 42º aniversario de la celebración del Día de los Muertos, el Museo Mexic-Arte a travez de la exposición En lo más negro del verano / In the Darkest Domain of Summer (5 de septiembre de 2025 – 4 de enero de 2026), invita a la comunidad a participar en nuestra convocatoria anual de fotos para la Ofrenda comunitaria. Cada año, los altares llenan la galería con recuerdos, fotografías y ofrendas que honran a los seres queridos que ya no están con nosotros. Únete a nosotros para celebrar, recordar y mantener viva esta tradición juntos.
GUIDELINES:
Each participant will be allotted a 12” x 12” space on our gallery wall. This space will include your framed photo as well as a small plaque (provided by the Museum) where you will include your loved ones name and a personal message. We encourage participants to decorate or personalize their frames but frames should be no larger than 10” x 10” to ensure room for a plaque.
A cada participante se le asignará un espacio de 12” x 12” en la pared de nuestra galería. Este espacio incluirá tu fotografía enmarcada, así como una pequeña placa (proporcionada por el Museo) donde podrás incluir el nombre de tu ser querido y un mensaje personal. Animamos a los participantes a decorar o personalizar sus marcos, pero los marcos no deben ser mayores a 10” x 10” para asegurar espacio suficiente para la placa.
Use only copies of photos (no original) and objects that can be replaced. The museum is not responsible for lost or damaged items due to the nature of the submissions and quantity.
Please submit photos by August 25, 2025
For questions please contact: Luisa Perez, Curator of Exhibitions and Director of Programs
August Changarrito, Lorena Diosdado
About the Artist
Lorena Diosdado is an artist currently working in Texas and California, whose practice engages with the sociopolitical history of Latinxs in the U.S., the aesthetics of excess, and the politics of visibility. Her expressive paintings and drawings explore the intersections of family, memory, and place, deeply informed by Chicana feminist thought and the personal histories that shape cultural identity. Diosdado earned her B.A. in Art Practice with Honors and a minor in Education from Stanford University and is currently pursuing her MFA in Painting & Drawing at The University of Texas at Austin. Her work has been exhibited at the de Young Museum of Art, Coulter Art Gallery, The Stanford Art Gallery, the Visual Arts Center in Austin, Ox-bow School of Art, and 6th Street Studios and Art Center where she also served as the artist-in-residence. She has received numerous accolades, including the Chappell Lougee Fellowship at Stanford University, the Raina Gese Award in Painting, and the Carolyn Kay Davis Centennial Memorial Award. Her work has been featured in Tlamatini, an independent Chicana publication and New American Paintings.
Artist Statement
“My work honors dreaming and hoping as acts of survival essential to the processes of living and healing. Shaped by experiences of transnationality, my practice combines intuitive digital and analog collage to construct allegorical paintings and drawings that explore the complexities of identity. My work fabulates a world within folklore/childlore, in which people’s relationship to their environments is in a perpetual state of reconstruction. Drawn to fragmentation, reconstruction and reframing as both conceptual and visual tools, my work layers family photos, memories and painful events through improvisational direct application, scratching, covering and unearthing.
Duality of place and identity shapes my central inquiry; how stories people tell about themselves, their challenges, their environments, weaves in and out of what they know and experience in the present and what they imagine or hope for in the future. Drawing from queer Chicana feminism that reimagines traditional Mexican domestic and public life, I attempt to investigate the ways in which we self-actualize based on myths, the experience of girlhood/womanhood, and personal/collective memory. I excavate moments from the past, especially those that haunt us, with an aim to tell a much larger story about and for low-income Latinxs on the periphery of America.”
Lorena will be at the Mexic-Arte Museum featuring her artwork on the Changarrito cart right outside the Museum’s entrance on August 16 & 17 and August 23 & 24 from 12 – 3 PM.
Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for updates on original work available for purchase and behind the scenes of the artist’s work, space, and creative process.
July Changarrito, Julio Martinez
Steel, caution tape, cinder blocks
5 x 6 x 8 ft
About the Artist
Julio Martinez is an artist who was born in Hidalgo, Texas, raised in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico and later moved to the Rio Grande Valley.
Martinez has exhibited his work in group exhibitions at the Visual Arts Center, Austin, Texas, including Chatter at the Campo, an exhibition which resulted from his participation in the Learning Tuscany study abroad program in 2023, Where We Meet in the Middle, and Ensemble as part of the Field Works Project. He was also a co-curator and artist in the Somos Recuerdos exhibition with the Center Space Project.
His curatorial involvement has been featured in the Daily Texan and curator talks at the Visual Arts Center. In 2023, he received the Hispanic Scholarship Fund scholar designation.
In 2024, Martinez participated in a Preparator Internship at Mexic-Arte Museum where he continues to work full-time as a Digital Media/Registrar Associate. He also attended a week-long sculpture program at the Ox-Bow School of Art in Michigan and received the 2024 Frick Art Award.
Martinez graduated with honors from the University of Texas at Austin in Spring 2024 and received a BFA in Studio Art and a BS in Arts and Entertainment Technologies.
Artist Statement
“Using textiles, photography, video, sculpture and printmaking, I create artwork that is often autobiographical and critical of the violence and injustice of immigration and manual labor. Within my work, I create portals inspired by architectural elements that summon the shared experiences of immigrant Latino and Chicano cultures. I record lived domestic spaces to arrange nostalgic digital montages and collages that reinterpret and project my memories of growing up in Mexico. Influenced by rasquache attitudes that have prevailed through my frugal upbringing, I repurpose found materials and tools to create sculptures and installations that materialize the struggles of manual labor and worker exploitation. I appropriate legal documents and national symbols and employ the imagery of borders to criticize Western propaganda, oppression, imperialism, colonization and interventionism. I utilize my multimedia practice as a medium of introspection and understanding of the world around me, so my work ultimately seeks to become a catalyst for self-reflection and community.”
Julio featured his artwork on the Changarrito cart right outside the Museum’s entrance on July 19 and July 26 from 12 – 3 pm.
Collections
The Mexic-Arte Museum is Honored to Announce the Newest Addition to the Permanent Collection.
The Mexic-Arte recently acquired one of Vicente “Chente” Rodriguez’s largest paintings, as seen in our recent exhibition, Beyond the Shape: El Arte de Chente Rodriguez.
Vicente “Chente” Rodriguez (b. 1945 Mexico) is Latinx/Chicano artist that has dedicated his art and life to art and helping the community with his art practice. He studied painting at The University of Texas in Austin 1969-1972 and he was involved with the Chicano Art Movement in Austin during this time producing silk screen posters. Throughout his lifetime he developed and continued to produce hundreds of vibrant geometric style artworks. He experimented with shape and explored a range of color palettes closely related to abstract expressionism. Rodriguez’s paintings are an example of how Chicano artists have used their art to express aesthetic values while also supporting social causes. Rodriguez’s work presents the viewer with how Chicano and Chicana artists embraced the possibilities of aesthetic innovation, often through experiments with color and paint application.
This painting was one the biggest paintings that Rodriguez ever created, spanning over 10 feet. In 1976, Rodriguez’s friend and fellow artist, Raul artist, convinced Rodriguez to create something larger than his smaller work, even assisting him crafting the stretcher frame for the painting. Rodriguez’s painting style is rooted in geometric abstraction, a visual language that he has refined over decades. Influenced by his early fascination with structured forms and patterns, his compositions feature intricate arrangements of circles, triangles, and intersecting lines, creating vibrant, rhythmic harmonies. Rodriguez’s use of bold, contrasting colors and gradients enhances the dynamic energy of his work, evoking movement and depth within a seemingly rigid structure. Chente’s geometric art is precise, while his approach is intuitive; selecting his palette instinctively, allowing color to guide the visual impact of each piece. This balance between precision and intuition results in dynamic works that feel both calculated and organic, drawing viewers into Rodriguez’s visual language.
The Mexic-Arte Museum is extremely excited to add this wonderful work from Vicente “Chente” Rodriguez to the Permanent Collection. You can see this painting and the rest of Rodriguez’s work from Beyond the Shape: El Arte de Chente Rodriguez through the Mexic-Arte Museum’s Exhibition Gallery Guide.
Education
Internship Application Closes August 15, 2025
Mexic-Arte is pleased to offer internship programs designed to advance individuals’ careers in studying American Latinx life, art, history, and culture. The Museum aims to train the next generation of museum professionals by offering career opportunities that equip individuals with the necessary skills to thrive as members of the arts professional workforce, creating a new generation of Museum leadership in Central Texas and beyond.
Mexic-Arte is hiring interns for the following departments:
- Development
- Special Events
- Graphic Design
- Collections
- Education
- Curatorial
Fall Internships run for ten weeks with a minimum commitment of 10 hours per week during office hours (Monday-Thursday 9 am-6 pm and Friday 9 am-5 pm), at a rate of $20/h. The deadline for applications is August 15th, 2025. We strongly encourage applications from students who identify as members of underrepresented groups in the museum field and the arts.
Sign up for Nuestro Mundo: 2025 Art Summer Camp!
– August 4 – 8, 2025
When: 10 am – 2 pm daily August 4 – 8
Where: Austin Public Library Southeast Branch, 5803 Nuckols Crossing Rd, Austin, TX 78744
Ages: 9 – 17
Youth Art Reception: Saturday, August 9 | 1 pm – 4 pm Free and open to the public
FREE TO PARTICIPATE!
Youth are invited to join Mexic-Arte for a week of creativity, community, and social change through art! This FREE camp includes hands-on printmaking, poster-making, and ends with a youth art show at the Southeast Library. Snacks provided. Bring a lunch!
Thank you to Austin Public Health and Austin Public Library for supporting these programs!
For ADA accommodations, call 512-974-7400. Free and open to all. Questions about summer programs? Contact Jasmine Chock: Art Education Program Coordinator 512-480-9373
Nuestro Estilo Summer Camp Recap
On Saturday, July 12, we celebrated creativity, culture, and community at the Nuestro Estilo Fashion Showcase! Art, fashion, and identity came together on the runway.
At Nuestro Estilo Camp participants spent the week learning about indigenous textile traditions, embroidery, sewing, and printmaking at Austin Central Library. They created beautiful, unique garments taking inspiration from indigenous textile traditions in what is now Mexico, Texas and Guatemala. Al Acosta shared their knowledge of indigenous textiles and plant ancestors and helped participants design and assemble their huipiles, bags, scarves and more. Leighla Molina shared their atuendos and shared knowledge about the deities on their atuendos and the importance of ancestors. Librarians Frida Garcia and Cristina Casas helped facilitate the workshop and helped participants learn how to use sewing machines and sew garments.
Volunteer, Eric Garcia, facilitated sewing tutorials and assisted participants in finishing their garments. He also MCed the fashion show which was held in the Art Gallery in the Central Library. Participants shared what they made by wearing their garments and walking on the runway and reflected on why they chose the elements they did and what they connected with while making their garments. Al closed the camp with the Four Directions.
Thank you to Al, Leighla, Frida, Cristina, Eric for sharing knowledge and facilitating this camp for the community!
Thank you to APH Office of Violence Prevention, Texas Commission on the Arts and Austin Public Library for supporting this free program!
Join Mexic-Arte this Fall for Family Days and Media Mixers!
Mexic-Arte will have art-making programs in conjunction with our upcoming exhibitions and Día de los Muertos Programs! A Family Day is where visitors of all ages are invited to create art with an artist of the current exhibition on select Sundays. Mexic-Arte has FREE admission every Sunday, thanks to HEB and the Downtown Austin Alliance. Media Mixers are for adults 21+ on select Thursday evenings. Adults will get to make an art project with an artist from the current exhibition. No prior art experience required! There is an affordable ticket fee to support the artist, materials, and refreshments.
Family Day & Austin Museum Day 2025: Cempasuchil Bath Bombs with Gabo Mtz – Free Admission
Join Mexic-Arte from 1 pm – 4 pm on Sunday, September 21, to make Cempasuchil bath bombs with artist, Gabo Mtz!
This family day is part of Austin Museum Day. The Mexic-Arte Museum invites you to participate in the Annual Austin Museum Day, where visitors can create cempasuchil bath bombs and contribute paper marigolds to the Ofrenda de la Comunidad (community altar). This workshop will be led by one of Mexic-Arte Museum’s 2025 Fall Exhibition artists, Gabo Mtz.
Family Day: Nichos with Lorena Diosdado – Free Admission
Join us from 1 pm – 4 pm on Sunday, October 5, to create Nichos with Lorena Diosdado for Día de los Muertos! A “Nicho” or “Retablo” is an art object that is popular in Central and South America. They are decorative boxes and are often placed on ofrendas in the home.
Members Media Mixer: A Performance Media Mixer with Mario Ramirez – Free Admission
Join us from 6 pm – 9 pm on Thursday, November 13, for a performance media mixer with Mario Ramirez!
News
Join Mexic-Arte Museum for the 42nd Annual Viva la Vida 2025 Presented by the Austin Convention Center
Mexic-Arte Museum’s 42nd Annual Viva La Vida Festival and Parade is Austin’s largest and longest-running Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) event. Co-presented by the Austin Convention Center and the City of Austin, this year’s festival will take place on Saturday, October 25, at 4th Street and Congress Avenue. The festivities begin with a Grand Procession at noon. Festival activities run until 6 p.m. Participants can enjoy the Education Pavilion with hands-on art activities, traditional foods, local artists and retail booths, a low-rider exhibition and live performances throughout the day.
Development
Mexic-Arte Seeks Sponsoring Partners for Viva la Vida Festival and Parade
Get your brand in front of 2,000 participants and more than 20,000 spectators on the day of the event. Mexic-Arte Museum’s Viva la Vida Festival and Parade is Austin’s largest and longest-running Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) festival in Texas. The festivities bring artists, families, businesses, locals and visitors together from all over to celebrate the holiday.
For more information, please contact Development Coordinator, Mindy Radike at 512-200-7276 or . Thank you for your time and support!
Thank You Brown Foundation & Madelline Mathis
Thank you to the Brown Foundation and Madelline Mathis for generous donations last month. These contributions will fund improved membership amenities and programming facilities. Thanks to these donations, the museum will focus attention on the museum’s membership program and patron experience during major upcoming projects. We look forward to celebrating the support for these efforts at the upcoming closing reception.
Join us on Sundays!
Tours on Sunday – Free admission!
Thanks to the generous support of H-E-B and the Downtown Austin Alliance, we are thrilled to offer free admission and public tours every Sunday at Mexic-Arte Museum!
These tours provide a unique opportunity to connect with the rich history and vibrant art of the Mexican, Latinx and Chicanx communities.
Join us for guided tours in English at 2 pm and in Spanish at 3 pm, where you’ll gain a deeper understanding of the art on display. This is a great way for visitors of all ages to engage with both traditional and contemporary art forms. Don’t miss the chance to explore Beyond the Shape: El Arte de Chente Rodriguez. This retrospective highlights the life and work of Vicente “Chente” Rodriguez, a pioneering artist whose geometric abstract paintings have shaped Austin’s cultural landscape.
Enjoy Cello Music on the First Sunday of the Month at the Museum
Join Mexic-Arte for a solo music concert by Huitzin Chavez on the first Sunday of the month from 1 pm – 2 pm, as you wonder through the galleries. Huitzin Chavez has been playing music at Mexic-Arte since he was a child. Huitzin Chavez and the Chavez family have participated with their music annually in several events at the Museum including the Dia de los Muertos/Viva la Vida Festival. Mr. Chavez and the Chavez family music group have also performed for opening receptions playing music ranging from the Pastorelas in December to classical music for exhibits such as the Greatness of Mexico, 16th to 18th Centuries. Mr. Chavez is talented and loves being around art and giving back to the community. This is why he suggested performing and playing his cello on Sundays. Mexic-Arte Museum is appreciative and grateful to Mr. Chavez for the gift of music for the community. Admission to the museum and the concerts are free on Sundays thanks to HEB and the Downtown Austin Alliance.
Mexic-Arte Museum Store
August Summer Sale! 20% – 50% OFF
Summer Sale Alert! Enjoy great discounts on museum t-shirts and other unique items, only for a limited time throughout August at our gift shop!
Thank You Sponsors
Learn more about Mexic-Arte Museum
3M – Austin, Alliance Française d’Austin, Ampersand Art Supply, Applied Materials, Austin Convention Center, Austin Independent School District Creative Classrooms, Austin Lowriding, Austin Saltillo Sister Cities Association, Bettina & Travis Mathis, Bob & Marisa O’Dell, Brown Distributing Company, Capital Printing, Chase Bank, Charlotte Hage Dalbey, City of Austin Capital Services, City of Austin Community Youth Development Program, City of Austin Cultural Arts Division, City of Austin Economic Development, City of Austin Parks & Recreation, City of Austin Public Health Department, City of Austin Special Events, Consulate General of Mexico in Austin, Downtown Austin Alliance, Downtown Austin Alliance Foundation, Dulce Vida, Ed Jordan, Elizabeth Rogers, Endeavor Real Estate Group, Erwin Cuellar, Fenix Post Tension, Inc., Fonda San Miguel, Ford Foundation, Frost Bank, Gloria Moore, Gloria Reyna, Hendler Flores Law, H-E-B, H-E-B Tournament of Champions, IBC Bank, IBM, Jennifer Hage Bond, Jennifer & Joseph Gatti, JP’s Peace Love & Happiness Foundation, Juan & Martha Cortera, Juan J Gutierrez, La Voz, Libby & Congressman Lloyd Doggett, Lola Wright Foundation, Ann McEldowney, Madelline Mathis, Mark Zuniga, Mellon Foundation, National Endowment for The Arts, Nettie & M.K. Hage Family, Oncor Global, Pastrana & Garcia Injury Law, Patricia Hage Hirsh, Paul Saldaña, Peter M. Baez, Red River Rising, Robin Suzanne Hage, Rocheli Patisserie, Saldaña Public Relations, Serie Print Project, Siete, Silcone Labs, Spurs, Texas Commission of the Arts, The Brown Foundation, Thompson Austin, Tom Gilliland, UFCU, Univision, Jane & Manuel Zuniga,