Photo: Juan Chawuk displays his work highlighting the multicultural people of Chiapas through a partnership between Arte Mexicano en Indiana and Big Car Collaborative. Credit: Arte Mexicano en Indiana
The Indianapolis Liberation Center is expanding! We are happy to welcome our newest member, Arte Mexicano en Indiana, a cultural organization open to everyone who wants to learn about the vast diversity on display in the local Mexican art scene.
Founded by Eduardo Luna in 2020, Arte Mexicano en Indiana is a nonprofit highlighting Mexican art and culture in Indiana. The organization’s most prominent partnership is with the Eiteljorg Museum where they host the annual Día de Muertos Community Celebration. Local organizations learn about the holiday and participate in making their own altars to go on display. Local artists in the Mexican and wider Latino community showcase their work at the event. This year’s Día de Muertos will take place October 21 at the Eiteljorg Museum.
Luna believes in social justice issues and fights to provide cultural and educational opportunities for all. Among other projects, Arte Mexicano en Indiana has worked with refugee high school students to put on an art show at Central Library, and hosted a luchador match to promote literacy. The diversity and creativity of its programming is a much-needed boon to the Indianapolis community.
“Arte Mexicano en Indiana is an organization that encourages and promotes Mexican art and culture in Indiana. Before creating this organization, I worked on a Latino arts project and I noticed a gap in Indiana for the representation of Mexican, Latino and Hispanic art and culture. With Indiana having a large percentage of Latinos or those with Mexican heritage, I saw the need to create a space for this community, my community. I have had a lifelong interest in culture and arts growing up in Mexico and I love sharing that, but also having created the space to help lift up Mexican and Latino artists in Indiana, (I wanted to) have a space for the community to feel safe and represented.”
-Eduardo Luna for Eiteljorg blog
Arte Mexicano en Indiana brings artists from Mexico to Indianapolis to showcase their work. There is a local mariachi band Zelaya that works closely with the group. The band played at venues throughout Indianapolis like the Eiteljorg Museum and Central Library to highlight the richness of mariachi music and folklore. Arte Mexicano en Indiana teamed up with Newfields to highlight religious practices in December as part of the annual Newfields Winterlights festival.
Arte Mexicano en Indiana is making a huge splash in the expansive arts and culture scene of Indianapolis. We at the Indianapolis Liberation Center are happy to be along for the journey as Arte Mexicano en Indiana continues to make positive change in the local arts and culture scene. Arte Mexicano en Indiana is a great example of the kind of bottom-up community building that is vital to building working class solidarity and power in Indiana.
The Indianapolis Liberation Center is a physical and virtual community center committed to education, social justice as well as the expansion of cultural and artistic experiences for all of the people of Indianapolis. We are always growing, and we want to keep up the momentum. If you or your organization is interested in joining the Indianapolis Liberation Center, get in touch with us here.
