32nd Annual Day of the Dead Exhibition: Vuelo de los Ancestros

Soft opening: Tues Oct 9, 2018 • 6:30 pm
Celebration: Fri Nov 2, 2018 • 6:30 pm
Free Admission • 2nd Floor Galleries
Runs through November 17, 2018
Tues to Sat • 10am to 5pm

Flight of the Ancestors • Vuelo de los ancestros is the 32nd Annual Day of the Dead exhibition hosted by Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts. The creativity of artists, teachers, artisans, and overall community members has contributed to Day of the Dead evolving into our most iconic exhibit of the year. We carry this tradition forward by welcoming people to express personal, political, and spiritual contemplations of life and death. This year, we have asked people to use butterflies or moths as a metaphor that showcases death as an integral part of the cycle of life.

Flight of the Ancestors • Vuelo de los ancestros is comprised of 16 artists who showcase a unique multidisciplinary Day of the Dead exhibit that fuses tradition with contemporary installations.

6:45 pm • Blessing the Ancestors Ceremony with Jorge Molina
7:30 pm • Live music with Locura Trio
8:30 pm • Live music with La Clandestina (in the theatre)
9 pm • Fogo na Roupa

MCCLA dedicates Flight of the Ancestors • Vuelo de los ancestros to René Yañez, who played a pivotal role in establishing the celebration of Day of the Dead in San Francisco. For many years René curated "Rooms of the Dead" exhibit at MCCLA for the community to use as a platform that addressed political issues that inflict death towards our communities.

Free admission courtesy of:
• Mi Yucatan
• Mission Pie
• Mission Economic Dev Assoc.
• Rosamunde
• ArtsCo.Lab

Suggested Donation: $5

We open our doors to anyone interested in joining us with related events that are in conjunction with the Flight of the Ancestors exhibit.

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Day of the Dead Archive

California Lucha Libre

Opening: Fri Aug 10, 2018 • 6:30 to 9pm
$5 • Inti-Raymi Gallery (2nd Floor)
Runs through September 8, 2018
Tues to Sat • 10am to 5pm

"California Lucha Libre" are 13 photographs from a larger documentary photo essay Amelia Berumen worked on from October 2016-September 2017. After learning that her neighbor was a luchador (wrestler), Amelia made connections with the fighters of the California Lucha Libre Club, where she captured intimate portraits, backstage scenes, and ring photos of that particular underground scene.

After approximately three months of photographing, Amelia created her first photo book volume titled "Rudos vs Tecnicos" In November of 2017, "Rudos vs Tecnicos" was cataloged into the Thomas J. Watson Library at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The California Lucha Libre wrestler club came to an end in September 2017 that also marked the end of this specific photo essay project.

These photos are a sample of hundreds of images Amelia Berumen took and have not been publically viewed.

Mascara vs Cabellera

Opening: Fri Aug 10, 2018 • 6:30 to 9pm
$5 • Main Gallery (2nd Floor)
Runs through September 8, 2018
Tues to Sat • 10am to 5pm

Visions of wrestling captured in paintings, drawings, photography, and apparel illustrate the rich surreal world of Mexican wrestling culture. Where the fight revolves around the theory of triumph and defeat. Where each combat and movement ends in a battle polarized by a duality between good and evil. This exhibit focuses on the history of the Mexican wrestling aesthetic, and its importance in popular culture.

Supporting Sponsors 

Intimate Aphorisms:
An Anthology of Queer Latinx Narratives

Opening: June 1, 2018 • 6:30 to 9pm
$5 admission • 2nd floor Gallery
Runs through June 30, 2018
Tues to Fri • 10am to 5pm

Curated by Orlando de la Garza, "Intimate Aphorisms" presents a journey into the lives of 15 artists and their uninhibited and instinctive expressions of individuality. The exhibition displays an intimate relationship between the artists and their subjects that ranges from identity, family, desire, displacement, faith, and body image. The artists execute their personal work with a distinctive and palpable approach by re-interpreting imagery and symbolisms drawn from (but not limited to) religious iconography, quilting techniques, self-portraiture, and poetry.

"Intimate Aphorisms" showcases artists' innate desire to reflect their own truth, on their own terms.

Featured artists: Toni di Carlo, Candy Guinea, Steve Lopez, LeeAnn DiCicco, Hector Gomez, Fabian Echevarria, Yolanda Reyes, Alexander Hernandez, Oscar Gallegos, Hablo Rodriguez-Williams, Fernando Miguel, Alfredo Bisset, Manos Creativas, Estela Nava, Celia Herrera Rodriguez

Mayan War Room: In Honor of Luis Góngora Pat

Opening: Sat April 7, 2018
6:30pm to 9pm • Free admission
Inti-Raymi gallery (2nd floor)
Runs through April 20, 2018

A Fundraiser and Art & Revolution exhibit of his family’s struggle for justice, including original embroidered protest artwork by Luis’s widow and daughter from Yucatan. The Mayan War Room will operate as a pop-up office space of www.justice4luis.org during the month of April.

Saturday, April 7th marks the 2nd year anniversary of the killing of Luis Góngora Pat by two officers of the San Francisco Police Department. Luis was a Mayan man from Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, and a migrant worker in San Francisco for fourteen years. Since his homicide, his family has been on a journey to make Luis’s killers and their abettors accountable. To honor his life and family’s struggle, a pop-up Mayan War Room has been set up for this year’s anniversary.

The Mayan War Room will keep office hours during the month of April to showcase the wide array of strategies, tactics and actions carried out by the family to demand justice in the past two years. Here we will hold a fundraiser for Luis’s family in Teabo on the 7th, and launch a new campaign, in coalition with other supporters and groups, to pressure D.A. Gascón to “Charge Killer Cops or Resign!” The war room will also display hand-sewn images of Luis by Doña Carmen May Can and Rossana Góngora May, widow and daughter, respectively, and other female relatives of the deceased. The hand embroidered images are intended to speak to the protest posters made by San Francisco artists that also bear Luis’s image. The women of Teabo join the protest from afar with their own artwork rooted in their own artistry and “hilo contado” style for which their village is known.

For more information please visit www.justice4luis.org.

Diffused Reflections: Sólo Mujeres Exhibition 2018

Opening: Fri March 16, 2018
6:30pm to 9pm • $5 admission
2nd floor Galleries
Runs through April 20, 2018

Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts presents the 31st anniversary of Solo Mujeres, DIFFUSED REFLECTIONS. This powerful exhibition captures and reveals the diffused reflections caused by our rough political and social climate. The fifteen artists included in this exhibition are the light that hits the uneven surface; their art is the reflection we are viewing. Their artworks offer a reflected alternative to the unnoticed and at times invisible narratives that society fails to acknowledge. DIFFUSED REFLECTIONS is a casting of images and representations; it is a moment of consideration and meditation for local, regional, and national artists to reflect and share their individual perspectives and communal narratives.

Featured artists include Jessica Alvarenga, Natalia Anciso, Sarah Castillo, Crystal Galindo, Ghazal Ghazi, Ester Hernandez, Sanaz Jamloo, Alex Martinez, Itzel Alejandra Martinez, Breena Nuñez, Alejandra Pérez, Yolanda Reyes, Sasha Silveanu, Maritza Torres, and Danielle Wright.

About the curator: Marissa Del Toro is an art historian and curator. Currently, Del Toro is working at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art as the Curatorial Support Group Coordinator. In both her professional and personal life she continues to work towards the promotion and advocacy for diverse narratives within art. Del Toro worked as Curatorial Assistant Intern for the UTSA Art Gallery from 2014 to 2015. She co-curated and contributed to the development, arrangement, installation, and programming of several art gallery exhibitions and projects on a broad range of topics through various mediums. In July 2015, she completed an internship with the Smithsonian Latino Center working on museum collections and exhibitions within the National Museum of American History. From 2016-2017, Del Toro was a Graduate Intern at the Getty Research Institute where she worked on several different projects and event programs such as the large-scale exhibition project, Golden Kingdoms: Luxury and Legacy in the Ancient Americas; part of the Getty Foundation’s Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA initiative.

Crossing Paths: Our Times, Our Resistances, Our Autonomies

Opening: Fri January 26, 2018
6:30 to 9pm • $5 Admission
Inti-Raymi Gallery (2nd floor)
Runs through Feb 17th, 2018

"Crossing Paths: Our Times, Our Resistances, Our Autonomies" is a group exhibition highlighting important stories, cultures, dreams, resiliencies, and yearnings. It’s a reflection on current times. The Mission Cultural Center is the intersection where all the artists who may not know each other share the same concerns and needs to express their experiences along with their dreams.

Artists: Abel Alejandre, Abel Rodriguez, Chris "L7" Cuadrado, Chris Robertson, Daniel Gonzalez, David Tim, Eduardo Valadez Arenas, Francisco Delgado, Fritz Aragon, Golbanou Moghaddas, José Cruz, Los Dos, Luna Francesca Gomez, Maya Fuji, Mincho Vega, Monica Alfaro, Nani Chacon, Pável Acevedo, Rabbit Garcia, Victor Macias a.k.a Ollingraffik

Stenciled Visions of Love, Peace, and Chaos: In Memory of Michael Roman

Opening: Fri January 26th, 2018
6:30 to 9pm • $5 Admission
Inti-Raymi Gallery (2nd Floor)
Runs through Feb 17th, 2018

In remembrance of our artist friend, we invite you to come and celebrate Michael Roman’s creative works. Michael was a long time artist-in-resident and supporter of the Mission Cultural Center. His signature works left a lasting legacy for the Bay Area Community and beyond. We honor his artistic contributions by showcasing some of his works. This exhibition will feature works from personal collections.

Mini Illusion Show #9

Sat January 20th, 2017
6 to 9:30pm • 2nd floor galleries
Free • Donations Welcome

In response to the new government.

In difficult times we do not have to surrender, we must continue with our art, our passions, our desire to make a world where we can live in peace, dance together with our differences, sing in all languages, the same language: freedom.

We are painters, musicians, poets, graffiti artists, multidisciplinary artists, activists of art and culture, who do not stop because a new government that threatens to destroy what in decades our ancestors, and ourselves, have built with love. We continue to work on what we know and want to do, because the Revolution is also in the hands of artists.

Artists: Bob Sanders, Do No Harm Coalition, Esmeralda Padilla, Istanbul Connection, José Antonio Galloso, Kata Miletich, Mara Lea Brown, Marco Peris Coppola, Meklit Hadero, Noah Brown, Pancho Pescador, Rupa Marya, Susan Matthews, Tania Figueroa, Todd T. Brown, William Brown

Curator: Adrián Arias

31st Annual Day of the Dead Exhibition: En El Cielo Como En La Tierra

Soft Opening: Tues October 10, 2017
Runs through Nov 17, 2017
2nd Floor Galleries • $2
Tues to Sat • 10am to 5pm

MCCLA invites you to experience interactive installations for The Day of the Dead 2017. In this exhibition, there is an opportunity to impact the senses along with the mind through a journey of a special place where legends, images, textures, aromas, and colors promise an intimate participation of tradition in this celebration.

Come and enjoy the "Monumental Altar" of Huaquechula Puebla, Mexico; an elaborate altar in collaboration with Manos Creativas, and interact with the altars created in honor of our "Heroes of the Mission" by Adrían Arias.

Celebration: November 2, 2017 • $7 Admission

Program:
6:00pm - 6:30pm - Coro Redes y Cantos de Chapala
6:30pm - 7:00pm - Blessing of the altars by Aztec Dancers
7:00pm - 7:30pm - Mariachi Kid - Daniel Ordoñez
8:00pm - 8:30pm - Liz Boubion (Dance Performance)
9:00pm - 9:30pm - Chooti-Maa (Raps and songs)
9:30pm - 11:00pm - Turbo Sonidero (Cumbia)
9:30pm - 11:00pm - Fogo Na Roupa (OUTSIDE)

MCCLA Presents: Manos Creativas
"In Heaven as on Earth"

"Celebrating on Earth the life of those who are already in Heaven..." Day of the Dead 2017

Manos Creativas makes an allegory of tradition as well as the celebration of the Day of the Dead. This tradition has been shared by many Mexicans in different places around the world where they establish their home. Among the most spectacular are the colorful altars of the dead that are filled with elements that symbolize the devotion and love of each one.

Manos Creativas is a group of artists and craftsmen of San Francisco whose main objective is to explore different handcrafting techniques used on Mexican folk art by working with diverse materials, textures, colors, paintbrush strokes, sculpting, and modeling.

This is an autonomous group is made up of: Marco Nava, Jorge Bermeo, Estela Nava, Gabriela Lozano, Manuel Ayala, and Javier Juárez.

Heroes of the Mission:
Interactive Drawings-Altars by Adrián Arias

In memory of five artistic heroes of the Mission district, there are five large interactive altars in the Inti-Raymi gallery.They represent the art advocates of the neighborhood that have left an imprint in poetry, education, journalism, and music.

Above all, they exemplified that anyone can be an artist in the community. In our community here at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts they contributed an important artistic message to the youth that engages in our center on a daily basis.

They are truly missed.

Francisco X. Alarcón, poet (1954-2016)
Michael Roman, visual artist (1956-2016)
MamaCoAtl, singer and poet (1965-2015)
Carlos Ramirez, poet and educator (1938-2013)
Alfonso Texidor, poet and journalist (1938-2013)

Adrian Arias is an American poet and visual artist. He was born in Peru and has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area since 2000. Winner of important prizes in poetry and visual arts in Peru, Argentina, Japan, Macedonia and the US. He has published thirteen books and chapbooks and his poetry and visual art to traveled the world. Adrian is also a cultural promoter and aRtivist.

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MCCLA Presenta: Manos Creativas
“En el Cielo como en la Tierra”

“Celebrando en la Tierra, la vida de aquellos que ya están en el Cielo....” Día de Muertos 2017

Manos Creativas hace una alegoría de la tradición y celebración del Día de Muertos. Esta tradición que ha sido llevada y compartida por muchos mexicanos a diferentes lugares al rededor del mundo en donde establecen su hogar, entre lo más espectacular están los coloridos altares de muertos llenos de elementos que simbolizan la devoción y el amor de cada quien.

Presentamos con gusto la recreación de un “Altar Monumental” de Huaquechula Puebla, México; un hermoso y elaborado altar como pieza central de la Expo Día de Muertos 2017 del MCCLA titulada : “En la Tierra como en el Cielo”. En esta exibición existe la oportunidad de impactar literalmete los sentidos y la mente a través de un recorrido por un lugar especial, donde las leyendas, las imágenes, las texturas, los aromas y los colores prometen un acercamiento y una participación más íntimos a la tradición y celebración del Día de Muertos.

Celebremos en la Tierra la vida de aquellos que ya están en el Cielo....

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Manos Creativas es un grupo de artistas de San Francisco, con el objetivo de explorar diversas técnicas artesanales de México a través de los materiales, texturas, colores, pinceladas, escultura, etc.

Grupo autónomo conformado por: Marco Nava, Jorge Bermeo, Estela Nava, Gabriela Lozano, Manuel Ayala, y Javier Juárez. Cuyo compromiso es el de recrear, disfrutar y presentar obras diseñadas e inspiradas en la artesanía mexicana. Muchas otras personas colaboran como voluntarios.