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The Center houses two gallery spaces, which feature local, regional, and national Latino/a artists. The Sam Z. Coronado Gallery is located upstairs and the Community Gallery is downstairs. Admission is always free and tours available by advanced request.
 

Gallery hours: 

Monday - Thursday: 10am to 6pm
Friday: 10am to 5:30pm
Saturday: 10am to 4pm
 

Por Fin: A Solo Exhibition by Cat Quintanilla

January 25 - March 23, 2019
Opening Reception: January 25, 7 - 9pm
Exhibition is available to view during gallery hours, 1/25 - 3/23
Sam Z. Coronado Gallery

Cat Quintanilla presents a solo exhibition of sculptures, photography, and block prints at the ESB-MACC. "Por Fin: Impresiones y Expresiones de Mexico" ("At Last: Impressions and Expressions of Mexico") reflects the artists focus on a future that is diverse and rich with her culture as the daughter of a Mexican immigrant. Many of her stone carvings reflect her personal and artistic journey to Guanajuato, Mexico to reconnect with her Mexican culture. Cat also reflects after a life of service in Austin that has included leadership roles such as serving as councilwoman and mayor of the City of Sunset Valley, Texas. The opening reception is on January 25th from 7-9pm and the exhibit will be on display until March 23rd, 2019.

Caminos Legacy Mural (2017)
Caminos Students

The Caminos Legacy Mural was created by Adrian Muniz, Analiza Valdez, Arnold Cordova, Jamie Martinez, Jesus Perez, Jyali Barrera, Karina Peña, Litzy Valdez, Mianiche Calhoun, Paula Monzon, Paulina Pereira, and Sarah Ruiz as a community arts mentorship project led by muralist and arts educator J. Muzacz. The teenage students in the ESB-MACC Caminos program painted a mural that celebrates the vibrant community around the ESB-MACC while showcasing their creative passion and vision for the future of Austin seen from the perspective of Latinx youth. The actual mural is simply the tip of the iceberg as this project involved dozens of hours of community interviews, historic research, and outreach. The result is a vibrant blend of ideas and feelings from long time community members, filtered through the creative lenses and originality of the twelve Caminantes of the Caminos Teen Internship Program.

Caminos Program Coordinator:  Frederico Geib
Artistic Mentor:  J. Muzacz

Maya (2017)
Reynaldo Alaniz
Limestone

Reynaldo Alaniz was commissioned by the City of Austin to create Maya, a hand-carved limestone sculpture of an abstract female figure.  The piece was commissioned by TEMPO, the Austin Art in Public Places temporary public art program. Maya was exhibited in Austin's Edward Rendon Sr. Park in November 2017 as part of the East Austin Studio Tour, and can now be viewed in the Zócalo of the ESB-MACC on a one-year loan from the artist.

The sculpture was inspired by a Mayan figure called a Chacmool, which is a type of stone statue that has been found at archaeological sites such as the Mayan pyramid of Chichén Itzá and several Aztec sites near Mexico City. The Chacmool is a reclining figure whose head is turned completely to the side, legs raised, with a flat area on the abdomen where sacrifices were placed. There is no definitive knowledge of where and when they originated but archaeologists have associated them with the Aztec rain deity Tlaloc due to markings found on some of the Chacmools.

Maya is a hand-carved limestone sculpture that invites the viewer to consider the history of Mexico's indigenous past. The placement of the sculpture in relation to the ESB-MACC building is reminiscent of the Chacmools placed outside Mesoamerican temples. Maya isn't an exact replica of a Chacmool, but is a modern adaptation that uses simplified lines and minimal detail to evoke the presence of the ancient figure while holding its own as a contemporary art piece.
 

Exoskeleton (2016)
Victor Pérez-Rul
Solar Hardware, Steel

Exoskeleton is a site-specific public sculpture for the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center, designed by Mexican artist Victor Pérez-Rul whose artistic labor evolves around the empiric development of energy research through the multidisciplinary approach to science, technology, and art. Exoskeleton generates, stores and processes energy through its solar panels, specifically designed to produce an electromagnetic spectrum. Its relation to the environment shapes its behavior. Exoskeleton exists through a technological system in relation with the environment that enables stages of wakefulness and sleepiness, life and death, and the apparently motionless lifeless stage. "Renewable energy is key to its essence and purpose, to accomplish this collaboration with Solartec, a Mexican company specialized on solar energy. This project was accomplished thanks to the ESB-MACC, and to the donors involved: the University of Texas at Austin: Visual Arts Center, Victor Pérez-Rul and Solartec."

Tejano Music Legends (2015)
Carmen Arismendi

This sculpture at the edge of the Zócalo pays tribute to local Latino musicians that were integral to Austin's music scene. The deep musical traditions and cultural contributions of the Perez and Ramos families are represented by the figures of brothers Ruben Perez & Ernest Perez, and brothers Alfonso Ramos & Ruben Ramos.  The Perez brothers are shown playing the saxophone and the Ramos brothers are engaged in song. The performers each led their own orchestra or band, and are joined by two curvilinear “stage structures” to symbolize the link between the two families. The vertical supports represent curtains on the side of the stage and a curving cut metal pattern based on a modified treble clef sits at the top and holds the names of these great families.

Uprooted Dreams (Alebrijes)

On permanent display in the Education Area upstairs at the ESB-MACC is Uprooted Dreams (2012), a site-specific sculptural installation that features over 19 individual, brightly colored woodcarvings, mounted in the public entrance of the Education Area. Artist Margarita Cabrera was selected to create an artwork which would engage the community in its production. "Uprooted Dreams is a work of art designed in the form of workshop production...nineteen members of Austin's immigrant community- guided by Master Artesanos, Ranulfo Sergio Ibañes and Lucia Luria Sosa, experts in the Mexican craft tradition of alebrije-created, carved and painted wooden sculptures. These pieces embodied artistic themes of uprootedness as they spoke to the transformation of people, land, and community. For the artist, artesanos, participants, and audience, the process and product of Uprooted Dreams provides an ongoing platform on which to build respect, equality, solidarity, and dignified ways of making art and creating community.   - Margarita Cabrera

Axolotl (Mexican Salamander)

The ESB-MACC houses an aqarium that is home to a very special species of salamander called the Ajplote. Their name is "Axolotl" in Nahuatl, which is an indigenous language of Central Mexico spoken by the Aztecs of Ancient Mexico and still spoken in Mexico today. Revered by the Aztecs, the axolotl is unusual among salamanders in that the adults retain large external gills and demonstrate a remarkable ability to regenerate lost body parts. The Axolotl once made its home in the interconnected lakes that filled the basin of Tenochtitlan, where Mexico City now stands. But over the centuries, lakes and canals have been polluted, endangering the animal in its natural habitat. Axolotls are now being reproduced in capitivity and then reintroduced to the wild. The ESB-MACC’ s Education Department maintains a collection of 5 Axolotls that reside in an aquarium in the Raul Salinas room to inspire and educate visitors of all ages. If you are visiting the ESB-MACC, make a request at the Front Desk  to view the adorable Axolotls!

ABOUT THE SAM Z. CORONADO GALLERY

The Sam Z. Coronado Gallery honors one of the most important figures in Austin’s Latino arts community. An accomplished visual artist who specialized in printmaking, Coronado was instrumental in establishing many foundational Latino arts organizations, from the Chicano Art Students Association he helped create as a University of Texas student to the Mexic-Arte Museum, the state’s official Mexican and Mexican-American art museum, which he co-founded in 1984 with Sylvia Orozco and Pio Pulido.

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SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Proposals are accepted year-round, and due to the large number of submissions received, ESB-MACC cannot guarantee immediate review of proposals. Submissions will not be returned.  Emailed proposals will not be reviewed.   All work samples should be of good quality. Please do not send originals as we cannot accept liability for damage or loss.  To apply, please complete the gallery application below.

Gallery Application

Please note: Exhibitions are subject to change. Check your local listings for current information and opening reception dates.