National Museum of Mexican Art

A group of educators and community leaders founded the National Museum of Mexican Art (NMMA) in 1982. Now it is the nation's leading and largest Latino arts organization and the only Latino museum accredited by the American Association of Museums. The mission of the National Museum of Mexican Art is to preserve knowledge and stimulate appreciation of Mexican culture through sponsoring events and exhibitions that exemplify the rich variety of visual and performing arts in the Mexican culture; to develop a significant permanent collection of Mexican art; to encourage the professional development of Mexican artists; and to offer quality arts education programs.

The Museum offers Visual Arts Exhibitions, opportunities to use the Permanent Collection for research and scholarship, educational opportunities such as classes, workshops, and tours, and Performing Arts events and festivals. Over 200,000 people visited the Museum in 2005. The NMMA has over 5,000 objects in its Permanent Collection, which ranges from artifacts of ancient Mexico to artwork by local artists. In 1994, the Museum launched its Del Corazón and Sor Juana Performing Arts Festivals to feature leading performers, artists, musicians, filmmakers, and writers from across Mexico and the U.S.

Every year, the Museum provides docent-led tours to over 1,500 visiting groups—including 1,000 K-12 school groups. We also present an extensive array of educational programs ranging from culturally oriented curricula and workshops for schools all over the Chicago Area to free Family Days and art classes for adults. The NMMA also has two award-winning job training initiatives for young people—Radio Arte WRTE 90.5 FM and Yollocalli Arts Reach. Each year, Radio Arte works with approximately 60 young people who develop all of the programming for this 24-hour radio station. The Yollocalli Arts Reach offers classes in mural painting, art, poetry, theater, web design, and graphic arts, to name a few subjects. Yollocalli serves 500-600 students every year. Both of these programs are located off-site at a Museum-owned building located at Pilsen's busiest intersection. Yollocalli Arts Reach also operates from three satellite locations.