Week 6:
Mexican Museum

August 21, 2013

Finally we were able to finish preparing the information required for the upcoming exhibition at the Mexican Museum. The next step will be to prepare a display of related prints that will be featured in the future. On Tuesday and Wednesday, I was assigned to looking into the files for past donors at the museum with the intention of developing a database rather than the pile of files stored in the museum. The museum staff will contact them once again if they are interested in giving a contribution to the new building. From looking at files, people have been donating funds since 1997! I clearly could see how much the museum has been working on making the project a reality.

Events such as gala dinners or silent auctions are some of the other ways that the museum has been able to successfully obtain funding.  I now have a better understanding of how the Mexican Museum needs to work in order to effectively serve the city and continue to exist. Of course, grant writing also plays a role in the process of finding support for the museum.

My research on Chicana/o art continued on Thursday and Friday, as I prepared interview questions for visits with two artists, Yolanda Lopez and Juan R. Fuentes. I did not imagine myself spending a whole Saturday with Yolanda Lopez, who was one of the original Chicana artists to become directly involved with the Chicano movement. In the mid 1970s, her art brought a new focus to Chicana art when she did her triptych entitled the Three Generation Series where her grandmother, mother, and she appear as Virgin of Guadalupe.  The series even played a significant role in one of the first multicultural texts by Lucy Lippard, Mixed Blessings.

Throughout time, Chicana or Latina women were not often shown in the mainstream art or film. If they were, they appeared in tourist posters or presented in some sort of romanticized way that had little to do with Chicana lives. However, the Virgin of Guadalupe plays a prominent role in the lives of many Latinos in the U.S. Furthermore, Yolanda challenged everyone by combining the sacred icon of Guadalupe with real-life Chicana women. This controversial work promoted the value of women in a male dominated culture. Lopez was so generous with me.  After the interview, she invited me for a great dinner at a Korean restaurant! I soon found out that she loves to go see anime movies and likes watching the Giants play.  I was so surprised when she took me to see the Pacific Ocean for the first time! The water was quite chilly, but was worth it. I would have never had guessed that I would share my first experience of seeing the Pacific Ocean while watching the sunset with the famous Yolanda Lopez. I will never forget this experience.

On Sunday, I decided that I wanted to spend my day outdoors. I took a ferry to Sausalito.  While there, I took a bus to Muir Woods that was located about an hour away from the town. I was able to spend my day walking throughout the park and looking at all the beautiful Redwood trees. The fresh air helped decrease my stress and allowed me to reconnect with nature. The break was necessary.  Next weekend, I will be in Los Angeles and will continue with my artist interviews.