Explore Nearby Museums
 Updated: 2/13/2012 
Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum
Chicago, Illinois
Description

The Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum is the largest Latino cultural institution in the country, and the only one accredited by the American Association of Museums. Look out this fall for Treasures from Ancient Veracruz, our major exhibition opening in October and featuring a colossal Olmec head. Also, stay tuned for the Sor Juana performing arts festival and our annual Day of the Dead exhibition. Both begin in September.

History

The Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum was founded in 1982 by a handful of local Chicago schoolteachers and community activitsts. They started the Museum with $900 of their own money and worked out of schools and churches until they could afford to move into a boathouse adjacent to Harrison Park. In 2001, the Museum expanded this old building to three times its original size and now the MFACM and its youth inititatives serve 500,000 people per year.

Artifact Collections

The MFACM's Permanent Collection of 4,000 pieces covers 3,000 years of Mexican history. The artwork in the Collection ranges from pre-Cuauhtémoc Mexican artifacts to contemporary Mexican art. The Collection contains works by an equal number of Mexican artists from Mexico, Mexican American artists, and Chicago Mexican artists.

Programs

Each exhibition at the MFACM is accompanied by a wide variety of educational programming. Family Days, lectures, film screenings, readings, artist demonstrations, art classes, and workshops are some of the things that the Museum Education Department offers. Nearly all Museum programming is free.

The MFACM's youth initiatives, the Yollocalli Youth Museum and Radio Arte WRTE 90.5 FM are both completely free job training and arts education programs for young people ages 13-21. For more information please visit their websites, yollocalli.org and radioarte.org.

Services
Gift Shop
Street Address
1852 W 19th St
Chicago, IL 60608
Mailing Address
Chicago, IL 60608
phone: 312-738-1503
fax: 312-738-9740
e-mail: info@nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org
home page: www.mfacmchicago.org
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Hours of Operation

Tu-Su: 10-5

Admission
Museum Type(s)
Art
Staff
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