Mexican-American culture grows within Austin
By Esther E. Sanchez
Two institutions work towards the same goal: support Mexican-American artists, showcase new and older works of art, and educate the public about the culture.
La Peña, a small Austin art gallery for Mexican-American art, open its doors in 1981. Now it’s occupied with all types of people for various occasions surrounding the heritage.
In 2007, the city opened Emma S. Barrientos Mexican-American Cultural Center, its official Mexican-American cultural site. Now it’s hidden behind condos in the Rainey Street District.
Both have endured a difficult past but have grown to help the Hispanic art culture within Austin. Although they are working on the same side, they both have their own distinctions on how they help artists.
Two sisters, Cynthia and Lidia Pérez, opened La Peña to reach out to other communities. They bring in artists from Mexico all the way down to Argentina to show off their work. In some cases, the Pérez sisters will fundraise to help lower-income artists gain access and work their way up for competitions in California. Their main goal is to work with the community and expose Mexican-American culture to people here in the U.S.
“We are literally a vortex,” Cynthia Pérez said. “The hipsters come in and relax from their technology in the office. We mix tourists with the hotel staff, who clean their rooms. The construction workers mix with the young people who wait Saturday mornings for [the bus].”
Gloria Espitia, a historian for MACC, said there were many artists trying to find a place to display their artwork after their first galleries had been destroyed by arson in the late ’70s. August 1986 was the first-time city council spoke of creating the MACC, but came to a standstill two years later because of location disagreements. According to a timeline by a local named Maria Medina, city council didn’t approve of a final location until 2002 and construction didn’t begin until 2007.
“There have always been challenges,” Espitia said. “Some artists haven’t seen it built because they left, they gave up. If it wasn’t for the hardships, they wouldn’t be where they are today.”
La Peña is currently displaying San Antonio artist Nivia Gonzalez’s painting as a tribute to her. Cynthia Pérez said the artist would paint women of color “looking within themselves,” which is why their eyes are closed. Later, Gonzalez painted the women with their eyes open to show them “looking outward.” Pérez also said Gonzalez was known for creating art for peace activism in Mexico.
“Art is political,” Pérez said. “In a sense where it’s also art activism. The other thing with Nivia’s art, there is a brown woman. That’s what made her trajectories skyrocketing, because we didn’t find those type of reflections in the early ’70s and ’80s. You found them in Mexico, but not on this side.”
MACC is currently displaying art from local artist Pio Pulido, “Exsoskeleton” by Victor Pérez-Rul, from Mexico City, and Espitia’s “Home Is Where the Heart Is.” There is a two year wait to get art displayed at the public museum. MACC is also open for community events and hold summer workshops to teach community members about different Mexican culture.
“In many ways, that’s how we’ve been successful and preserving our culture,” MACC director Herlinda Zamora said. “To us, it’s giving back to the community.”
Artist Luis Guerra also had his work displayed in many galleries around the world, including La Peña. Guerra, who is based in Austin and Real de Catorce, a small town in Mexico, is known for his art for the United Farm Workers and other Mexican-American representation through painting and sculpting. He said he believes the art community is improving for the city.
“Art serves a community and to be able to see the world for the first time,” Guerra said. “If I can make them see the world for the first time, then I did my job. As artist’s responsibility is to give what [people] need, not what they want and to grow as a human being.”
Both Guerra and Cynthia Pérez said La Peña started as a restaurant called Las Manitas that brought many people in the community together. Pérez said she will “always think of the people who brought it together and came together.” Now the gallery works with Mexican artists and communities around Austin to provide educational workshops.
“You have to have something to encourage people with, and it’s part of a heritage,” she said. “This is a way to reach out to all kind of communities. We would come together and be able to discuss some of the things that we are occurring in our communities at the time to create the connection.”
The MACC will be celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and are starting to plan with local teens on creating a mural for the center.
“What I’ve been telling them is, ‘Our history should never be ignored,’” Zamora said. She added that community members “get involved when they have a voice, feel welcomed, and have ownership. I feel like I’ve done my job when we see the community members come back.”
