The Mexic-Arte Museum has stood as a bastion of Latino art for almost three decades. With such a rich history, it came as no surprise when founder and Artistic Director Sylvia Orozco announced two weeks ago that this year's La Gala del Museo would be honoring international artists Rina Lazo, former assistant painter for Diego Rivera and Arturo Garcia Bustos, Frida Kahlo’s pupil, for their lifetime achievements in Mexican art and culture.

Lazo assisted Mexican muralist Diego Rivera from 1947-1957 and was an instructor at the National Institute of Fine Arts in Mexico City for more than three decades. Her work is part of permanent collections in Mexico, including the University of Contemporary Art and the Museum of the State of Mexico; and in Guatemala, at the University Museum of San Carlos and the Museum of Modern Art. She has participated in numerous exhibitions, individually as well as collectively.

Garcia Bustos has worked on murals for some of the most important buildings in Mexico including the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City and the Salon of Oaxaca in the National Museum of Anthropology. He is also known for the revolutionary-themed prints he produced in the Taller de Grafica Popular, a twentieth-century collective of Mexican printmakers.

He worked closely with Frida Kahlo and was with her every day during one of her most creative periods, 1943-1945. For the artist, seeing Kahlo become an international figure is a gratifying experience and he remembers her with almost palpable love and admiration.

Lazo and Garcia Bustos spoke to CultureMap Austin from their home in Mexico. Both artists mentioned being very happy to get the chance to come to Austin and immerse themselves in the local culture.

"We're very happy to get this chance to go inaugurate 40 pieces," says Garcia Bustos. "Rina has been to Austin before, but it will be my first time. I'm very excited and it's a pleasure to get the opportunity to get to know the city. We know there are many important documents at the University of Texas at Austin that have to do with Mexican culture and we're looking forward to seeing what the culture is like."

"Frida was absolutely stupendous, a truly great teacher," says Bustos. "Back then things were different because the famous one was Diego, not Frida. However, with the passage of time, it's great to see that all of our careers have reached the point where they are now. You put in the effort day in and day out and can only hope that it pays off. Rina and I, we more or less follow that line that they set for us."

After so many years of making art, Lazo and Garcia Bustos said they are as inspired today as they were when they first delved into art.

"I'm always inspired by the Mayan world," says Lazo. "I was born in a historically Mayan zone in Mexico and their great culture has been a source of inspiration for me ever since. The Mayans had a way of expressing themselves through art, they had the codices — they just knew so much! The way they represent man was figurative, just like the art we have now. I feel like when we follow what they were trying to achieve, it enriches us."

Garcia Bustos, whose also occupies privileged spaces in the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Museum of Graphic Art in Moscow, said his inspiration comes from nature and the things that surround him in Mexico.

"Nature is what inspires me the most," said Garcia Bustos. "I'm also inspired by Mexican people and Mexico's history. They infuse me with enthusiasm, with feelings of interest. Our tradition, our culture, that which we have inherited; I'm inspired by all of it."

Along with the two artists, La Gala del Museo will receive former President of Mexico Vicente Fox as the keynote speaker. Fox served as the President of Mexico from 2000 to 2006 and is recognized as the first candidate from an opposition party to be elected president since 1920. He garnered 42 percent of the vote at the elections, marking the first time that the then-dominant Institutional Revolutionary Party had lost a presidential election.

Since leaving office, Fox has been involved in the development of Centro Fox, a center for the advancement and study of democracy that encourages a sense of commitment and solidarity among the Mexican population for the underprivileged and for those who have not enjoyed the benefits of development. According to the Gala del Museo organizers, Fox will speak on the importance and contributions of Mexican art and culture in the world and the positive impact of the demographic shifts in Latino populations in the United States.

Mexic-Arte founder and Artistic Director Sylvia Orozco is excited about the Gala and had very good things to say about the honorees.

"I'm pretty excited and humbled at the same time," says Orozco. "Not only did these great artist accept our invitation, but what few people know is that Garcia Bustos was the first major artist donation we had back in 1983. Back then I was living in Mexico and working on my Masters. I was in heaven seeing so much art. I knew I wanted to start something and needed help. I knocked on his door and he handed me 6 or 8 artworks, original pieces. That was 29 years ago, so having them here now is kind of full circle."

Orozco also shared that Mexic-Arte will be inaugurating their new building. The architect responsible for it will be at the Gala. The building Mexic-Arte occupies now was never meant to be a museum and, as Orozco explained, the new building is all about having a better place to show art as well as a space in which said art can be better maintained.

---

La Gala del Museo is black tie event and will be held at the Four Seasons on Sunday, May 6 from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Tickets for the event begin at $250 per person, with premium table packages available. You can learn more about it and get tickets here.