Beyond the Border

My first job in admissions included recruitment at Hispanic-majority high schools in Chicago. As a Spanish speaker, it helped that I could answer questions for the parents of the students that attended these schools. There were more Hispanics in Chicago than I ever would have imagined.

The prototypical Hispanic-majority high school, in my estimation, was Juarez, located in the heart of of the Pilsen neighborhood on Chicago's lower West side. The Pilsen and Little Village neighborhoods, located between 18th and 26th streets on the north/south axis and Ashland and Pulaski east/west have the greatest concentration of Hispanics in Chicago. Burned in my memory are the massive murals that tower in the patio section of the first floor of Juarez high school. The murals depicted scenes of Mexican history and culture.

Since I no longer live and work in the city of Chicago, I hadn't visited Pilsen in a while. Reminiscing on my many visits to Juarez and its incredible murals, I was reminded that there is an outstanding cultural center in Pilsen where you can explore Mexico's proud muralist history and its other artistic wonders: the National Museum of Mexican Art located at 1852 W. 19th Street, not far from Juarez High School. I stopped by the NMMA last weekend and impressed by its artistic offerings. Founded in 1987, the museum has hosted visits by Mexican presidents, Carlos Salinas de Gortari and Vicente Fox, and by such noted Mexican writers as Octavio Paz, Carlos Fuentes and Sandra Cisneros. The NMMA expanded to 48,000 square feet in 2001 and houses some 6,000 works of art in the form of textiles, paintings and sculpture, photography and folk art. Special exhibitions on display when I visited included a series of works highlighting the Mexican Day of the Dead ceremonies; a series of paintings by the Mexican painter, Juan Carlos Macias, on the theme of "miracles and saints;" and a fascinating collection of photographs by Pedro Meyer of the scenes from the Mexican Revolution.

A key aspect of pursuing a bachelor degree is expanding your cultural horizons and getting beyond the tired ethnic stereotypes with which you are bombarded through popular culture. A trip to the National Museum of Mexican Art will go a long way towards gaining a greater appreciation of Mexican culture. I highly recommend it.

CW