art on the street

Austin's Mexic-arte Museum gathers 100+ contemporary Latinx artists in vendor cart exhibit

Mexic-arte Museum Creating Encuentros: Changarrito 2012-2024

Although the Changarritos residency has been going on for more than a decade, this exhibition gathering all its works is newly open.

Mexic-arte Museum/Instagram

Austin's Mexic-Arte Museum is shining a light on an ongoing program that celebrates the work of over a hundred Latinx artists from Texas and beyond. An exhibit that opened April 12 collects works that originated in the museum's art vending cart residencies — from 2012 until now — for display together through August 25, drawing a more explicit line between the permanently held works.

According to the Mexic-Arte website, “changarrito” refers to the vending carts scattered around the streets of Mexico selling antojitos (street food) and more. Artist Maximo Gonzalez conceptualized the changarrito as an alternative platform for artists to present their work to the public beyond the confines of traditional art spaces or official curatorships.

Today, the informal art vending carts exist throughout the world (including online through “changarreando”), allowing artists to expand the reach of their work and connect to the public through social media and special exhibitions. Leslie Moody Castro first brought the concept to Mexic-Arte in 2012, implementing the Changarrito residency as a platform for artists to share their art and foster community in Austin and beyond.

This year, the museum celebrates the program’s history and legacy with an exhibit of artworks from its permanent collection, each acquired during the residencies of Changarrito artists over the past 12 years.

Creating Encuentros: Changarrito 2012-2024 includes a newly commissioned sound piece by Lisa Salidvar (Mexico City), an interactive artwork by Gil Rocha (Laredo, Texas), a hand-painted exhibition sign by Alán Serna (San Antonio, Texas), and a mural by Stephen Longoria (San Diego, California), titled Tejas Forever.

Celeste De Luna is the current Changarrito artist in April. Hailing from Harlingen, Texas, and now based in San Antonio, De Luna is inspired by nature and is enjoying discovering the birds in her home base of four years so far.

A print by Celeste De Luna, shared by the Mexic-arte Museum on Instagram.Art by Celeste De Luna, via Mexic-arte Museum/Instagram

“This print was inspired by my love of nature and birds, how this love connects me to ancestral memory, and after a painting by artist Frida Kahlo titled 'My Dress Hangs There,'" De Luna explains on the museum's Instagram. "This work addresses climate equity and how it should include indigenous peoples’ connections to nature. These ancestral connections to nature and animals should be preserved and indigenous voices and concerns should be taken into consideration when considering climate equity for all people in cities.”

Creating Encuentros: Changarrito 2012-2024 opened with both live music and a DJ, drinks from Dulce Vida tequila, snacks from Licha’s Cantina and Ross Cake’s Bake & Sweets, and a chance to engage with the artists whose works comprise the museum’s Changarrito exhibition.

The opening reception was also the first of a series of "encuentros" – a variety of media mixers, panel discussions, pop-up art sales, and more. Mexic-Arte will host additional encuentros throughout the exhibit’s April-August run, including a free family day on Sunday, May 19, as part of the museum’s H-E-B-funded Domingos Gratis en Familiar grant. More information on the exhibit and special events, including ticketing information, is online at mexic-artemuseum.org.

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New

Historic Austin museum will close for more than a year for restoration

Photo courtesy of the City of Austin

The Elisabet Ney Museum will close at the end of 2024 and reopen in mid-2026.

Every building needs some maintenance here or there, and the historic Elisabet Ney Museum needs some extra-special care. Formerly the art studio and residence of its namesake, it's been standing since 1892. It'll spend 2025 in relative solitude, as it undergoes renovation for a year and a half with no visitors allowed.

The museum will close to the public December 30, 2024, and open again in the summer of 2026 if all goes according to plan, a news release from the City of Austin shares. It'll be a quiet period compared to the 21,000 people visiting from around the world each year.

According to a museum overview on the city's website, Elisabet Ney, a European portrait sculptor, bought the property and called her new studio Formosa. She worked on sculptures depicting important Texans like Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston, and collected works of European contemporaries.

The building at 304 East 44th St. includes 3,700 square feet of museum space, which was converted by Ney's friends after her death in 1907. It retains its unique look that juxtaposes a Neo-Classical main studio from 1892 with a later addition from 1902 including a tower for her husband, Edmund, to write in. It is also on 2.5 acres of land, which has largely been restored to its natural state with native species.

A press release lists these tasks (verbatim) within the scope of the new work, referred to as the Capital Improvement Project (CIP):

Restoration of original exterior wood doors and windows
Upgrades and replacement of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system
Replacement of the exhibit and general lighting systems
Repairs to the roof, masonry, plumbing, and interior finishes.

There will also be work to do outside of the building. Workers will replace the pedestrian bridge across Waller Creek, stabilize a 20,000-square-foot portion of the bank, and make the grounds more accessible by adding new pathways.

Funding comes from several sources, according to a release: "the 2012 Bond, Proposition 14, the Parkland Dedication Fund, the Historic Preservation Fund, Partners in Preservation through the National Trust, and contributions from the Friends of the Elisabet Ney Museum."

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