TEXAS, AUSTIN: FROM ST. MARY'S CATHEDRAL TO THE MEXIC-ARTE MUSEUM

March 24, 2021

Austin is a fairly walkable town, and there are many things to see within walking distance of the capitol. Just a few blocks away is St. Mary's Cathedral. The cornerstone was laid in 1872, the same year Austin became the capital of the state. (It is really too bad that the ugly office building behind it spoils the view.)

It is always fun to see another iteration of the Virgin of Guadalupe in North American cathedrals. I also love the also ubiquitous gentle, smiling face of the current pope, Pope Francis. These two images were in the foyer before the main doors into the sanctuary.

The view from the rear entrance:

While not what I would call a spectacular cathedral, St. Mary's has quite a few nice features. For example, I love the use of azure blue and stars.

The angle of light coming in through the stained glass windows behind the altar made it hard to get a good photo, but take my word for it, the contrast of the bright colors of the windows with the rich blue ceiling is gorgeous.

Lovely stained glass windows encircle the nave.

I especially like this one of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane with what I assume is "the bitter cup" hovering above.

The Sacred Heart is a prominent theme in many cathedrals.

It would be easy to just walk by this baptismal font . . . 

. . . without noticing the detail in the depiction of John baptizing Jesus or the four evangelists around the base.

Like many cathedrals, there is a rose window above the entrance. The photo on the left shows the artistic repetition of circles in the architectural details. The photo on the right is the main entrance, located just below the rose window.

After we had our fill of the cathedral, we hit the city streets again. Along with the ugly building noted at the beginning of this post, Austin has some beautiful buildings. My favorite is the Frost Bank Tower. With 33 floors, it is currently the fifth-tallest building in the city. Completed in 2004, it is notable for being the first high-rise building to be constructed in the United States after the 9/11 attacks. 

I always appreciate a good outdoor mural. This one looks like a cross between Jackson Pollock and M. C. Escher.

All our capitol-izing and cathedral-izing made us hungry, so we stopped at Modern Market Farm Fresh Eatery, which Yelp assured us had vegan options.

We had a mushroom pizza and a turmeric veggie bowl. Not outstanding, but a pretty good vegetarian option.

The restaurant is just around the corner from the Mexic-Arte Museum, which has a long wall of murals on the exterior wall.

The museum was having a special showing of the art collection of Juan Antonio Sandoval Jr., a UTEP librarian who collected Latino art. Before he died in January 2021, he gifted his collection of 1,500 paintings, lithographs, and photos, along with 1,000 rare books, to the Mexic-Arte Museum.

Photograph of Sandoval in his library in 2017

Some of Sandoval's extensive library is on display in the museum.

When I saw that Bob had put this museum on the itinerary, I confess that I thought the museum would  contain mostly folk art, so I was surprised at the range and variety of what was on display in the relatively small space.

I always thought the "first Thanksgiving" was on the East Coast and involved the Jamestown Pilgrims. Nope, it was actually in 1598 in the El Paso, Texas area. Don Juan de Oñate organized a mass and a feast to thank God for their safe journey and to claim land for God. Unfortunately, Oñate turned out to be a pretty evil guy, murdering and pillaging all over what is now the southwest US.

First Thanksgiving (1989) by Jose Cisneros

In the mid-19th century, the U.S. Army tried using camels as pack animals in the Southwestern U.S. It actually worked pretty well, but the plan was abandoned around the time of the Civil War.

U.S. Camel Corps c. 1855 (1992) by Jose Cisneros

I was intrigued by these faces in a linocut relief print. It shows Santa Ana selling off a large part of his national territory to the North Americans.

Sale of Nations (1960) by Angel Bracho

According to the artist, the painting below represents the passage of currency from the U.S. to Mexico, shown here on the Bridge of the Americas between El Paso, Texas, and Juarez, Mexico. Presidents Andrew Jackson (yellow car), Abraham Lincoln (white/green car), and George Washington (red car) are driving into Mexico. Together, the worth of the currency their faces are on is $26, the name of the painting: Jackson is on the $20, Lincoln is on the $5, and Washington is on the $1.

$26 (1998) by Francisco Delgado

Cêsar Chávez is an important part of the American Civil Rights Movement. A follower of Gandhi and his code of non-violence, Chávez demanded labor rights for Mexican and Chicano migrant farm workers, organized the United Farm Workers labor union in 1962, and led nationwide boycotts of iceberg lettuce and grapes. In 2014 President Barack Obama proclaimed his birthday, March 31, a federal commemorative holiday

Cêsar Chávez (n.d.) by Luix Jimênez

This piece by an El Paso Chicano does a good job of humanizing those who try to sneak across the border at night. The women are particularly moving.

Illegals (1985) by Luis Jimênez

This woodcut is best described in the artist's own words.

Before the Migration (2015) by Ruben Urrea Moreno

This painting of a sleeping woman is one of my favorites.  Is this Eve? Mary? An unnamed nun? With her legs sprawled wide apart, she looks quite comfortable, although is that a rock she is sitting on?

First Sleep (n.d.) by Marta Arat

I love Central American textiles. Mexic-Arte has a nice collection of Oaxacan textiles from the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

This is the type of art I expected to see. I love it!

I end with a series of serigraphs (a fancy name for silkscreen printing) by Swiss artist Edith Eppenberger, who spent 30 years living in Oaxaca. Each print shows one of favorite places or things in Oaxaca. Top row: the zócalo, the market, women in Teotitlán. Bottom row: an altar for the dead, a party at the park, and an homage to corn.