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The exhibition, Mexico, the Border and Beyond: Selections from the Juan Antonio Sandoval Jr. Collection, will open to the public on Saturday, December 19th and will continue to remain open to the public until Sunday, August 22nd. Please make sure to review our Health Protocols, before planning your visit to the Mexic-Arte Museum. Thank you.

Mexic-Arte Museum presents the exhibition Mexico, the Border and Beyond: Selections from the Juan Antonio Sandoval Jr. Collection. In early 2020, Mr. Sandoval, a now retired reference librarian and subject specialist for art and Chicanx studies at The University of Texas at El Paso, donated his vast collection to Mexic-Arte Museum, which he had amassed over 30 years. The Sandoval Collection is comprised of over 1,500 artworks, many of them created by Mexican and Latinx artists. It includes prints, photographs, paintings, sculptures, and popular art from the El Paso region, as well as Mexico. The Collection also contains hundreds of publications, and ephemera. Juan Sandoval’s dedicated patronage to the arts is a monumental achievement, and his legacy will allow generations today and in the future to engage with important works. Mexic-Arte is grateful that Juan Sandoval chose to donate his work to the Museum.

Mexico, the Border and Beyond: Selections from the Juan Antonio Sandoval Jr. Collection is the first major showing of this collection in Austin. The Sandoval Exhibition is organized into four areas: 1) Passion of a Collector; 2) Life and Experiences in the U.S./Mexico Borderlands examines cultural history and social issues of the border represented by artists in the El Paso/Juárez U.S. Mexico border region; 3) Mexico: A Second Home showcases artworks many that were acquired by Mr. Sandoval during his summer trips to Oaxaca; 4) Beyond presents notable artists living and working outside the borderlands.

A large part of the exhibition is dedicated to the artworks focusing on the Life and Experiences in the U.S./Mexico Borderlands. This part is divided into five themes: Creating a Border; Land, Fauna, and Allegories; I am Immigrant You Are; Immigrant Dream and Nightmare; and The Culture Continues/La Cultura Sigue. The Sandoval Collection represents the unique history and culture of the borderlands or la frontera. In keeping with our mission, the Mexic-Arte Museum’s Collection is a vehicle whereby the public can gain access to valuable information on cultural heritage fostering an understanding of humanity in the broader culture of Texas, and in the global community.

The Life and Experience in the U.S./Mexico Borderlands has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.