FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 1, 2007

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Ken Slavin for Museo Alameda
210.736-0856 (office)
210-313-0597 (cell)

Kristen Kauffman
214-827-3527 (office)
214-695-1575 (cell)

“HUIPILES: A CELEBRATION” OPENS AT MUSEO ALAMEDA
Exhibit is the first of two major Museo openings marking Hispanic Heritage Month

SAN ANTONIO – “Huipiles:  A Celebration” makes its Texas debut at the new Museo Alameda, the nation’s first formal Smithsonian affiliate, on Wednesday, September 19 – the first of two major openings planned for Hispanic Heritage Month programming.

“Huipiles: A Celebration,” which will run through January 20, 2008, is a collection of paintings and photographs that highlights the hand-woven and embroidered garments produced in Mesoamerica in the Mayan tradition and explores their relevance in the lives of women living in the U.S. today. 

The exhibit will open September 19 with a public reception and trunk show from 6-8 p.m. featuring richly embroidered textiles and jewelry for sale.  Guests are encouraged to wear their favorite huipiles.

“This is a magnificent exhibit and a wonderful way for us to honor Hispanic Heritage Month at the Museo Alameda,” said Carol Wyrick, the Museo’s acting director.

San Antonio-based artist Kathy Sosa conceived and organized the show, which involves more than 50 San Antonians, most of them women, as artists, participants in interviews or as subjects for the artwork.  It was first unveiled in July at the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington, D.C, as part of  “Mexico at the Smithsonian,” an ongoing program series organized by the Smithsonian Latino Center to highlight different aspects of Mexican and Mexican-American culture and heritage. 

“Fortunately for us, huipiles are a daily sight in San Antonio, but we want to show that they are so much more than just beautiful garments,” Sosa said.  “We celebrate not just the textiles but the women in Latin America who create them and the women in North America who love, collect, revere and wear them.”

The exhibition centers on mixed media paintings by Sosa and contemporary photographs by Liz Garza Williams that document the various ways that huipiles are enjoyed by women in the United States.  More than a dozen colorful huipiles from the collections of self-described “Huipilistas” who wear the garments on a daily basis will also be on display.

Also featured are paintings by Lionel Sosa and Cristina Sosa Noriega, figurines by Jacinto Guevara, huipil-embellished furniture and handbags by Veronica Prida, a moving personal essay by noted author Sandra Cisneros, an historic essay by Ellen Riojas Clark and a documentary film by Cesar Martinez and Al Obregon III on the Huipilistas of San Antonio, Texas, who perpetuate and promote the wearing of and reverence for huipiles. 

“Huipiles: A Celebration” was made possible through the generous support of MATT.org, The Tobin Endowment, Flora Andrade, Merrill Lynch, the Brown Foundation Inc. and the San Antonio Office of Cultural Affairs.

The other major Museo Alameda exhibit slated to open during Hispanic Heritage Month is the Smithsonian-curated ““¡Azúcar! The Life and Music of Celia Cruz,” which opens September 26 and will run through April 27, 2008.  Details on this blockbuster exhibit will be released separately.

About the Museo Alameda

The Museo Alameda, the first formal affiliate of The Smithsonian Institution,
is the nation’s largest Latino museum.  It is part of The Alameda National
Center for Latino Arts and Culture, a non-profit organization that also
operates the Alameda Theatre, the landmark Latino movie palace in downtown San Antonio.  With more than 20,000 square feet of exhibit space and 11 galleries, the Museo is devoted to telling the story of the Latino experience in America through art, history and culture.  It is located in historic Market Square at 101 S. Santa Rosa Street, San Antonio, Texas.  Hours of operation are 10 a.m.  to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday; noon to 6 p.m. Sunday and closed Monday.  Admission is $4 for adults and $3 for seniors and students, with special prices for military, groups and more.  Admission is free on Wednesdays from 4-8 p.m.  For more information visit http://www.huipiles.org , the Museo Alameda website at http://www.thealameda.org, or call 210-299-4300.

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