Mexic-Arte Museum awarded Mellon foundation grant.
Austin’s Mexic-Arte Museum has received funding from the second round of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Art Museum Futures Fund. The national Futures Fund “distributes additional emergency COVID-19 grants totaling $3 million to provide much-needed support to small arts and cultural institutions across the US. The Art Museum Futures Fund’s second round of grants includes 14 small-sized arts museums with strong and long-standing commitments to the local community and social justice.”
Throughout the pandemic, Mexic-Arte Museum has continued with both in-person and virtual programming, providing exhibitions, educational programs for area schools, and free admission on Sundays. Founded in 1984 by artists Sylvia Orozco, Sam Coronado, and Pio Pulido in the Arts Warehouse in Austin, the museum moved to 419 Congress Avenue in 1988. Mexic-Arte Museum received $75,000 in funding from the Mid-America Arts Alliance COVID relief, as well as a National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award from Michelle Obama in 2016. The $100,000 Mellon Futures Fund grant will provide for general operations.
From the Mexic-Arte Museum:
“Mexic-Arte Museum is grateful beyond words for this grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for our organization. Museums are important for our community and wellbeing—we are enhancing the community today and preserving culture and heritage for tomorrow. As one of the precious few Mexican art museums in the United States, Mexic-Arte Museum strives to improve the quality of life in Texas through innovative exhibitions and educational programming. A total of 75,000 visitors, ranging from enthusiastic children to art connoisseurs, tour the museum each year.”
Mexic-Arte programming for early 2021 include monthly Instagram takeovers and the exhibition Mexico, the Border and Beyond: Selections from the Juan Antonio Sandoval Jr. Collection Exhibition, on view through August 22, 2021. It is the first major showing of this collection in Austin.
