BY JOE ARCE AND COREY CRABLE
March is Women’s History Month, and to celebrate it, the Mattie Rhodes Center is hosting “Mujer: Inspiration, Testimony, Legacy,” an art show highlighting the works of local female artists. The show, which opened March 1, will run through the end of the month.
“It’s really just a gathering of women, a gathering of friends, and some really talented artists,” Jenny Mendez, the center’s Cultural Arts Director, said on the show’s opening night. “So often I think women, they offer so much, and sometimes they don’t really realize it until somebody points it out. We do so much for so many others and we forget to take care of ourselves. … The exhibit itself really is the start of so many different conversations of really highlighting all the wonderful things that women bring.”
A press release from the Mattie Rhodes Center describes the art show as an event that “examines the role of women through culture, tradition, and their individual experiences. … This exhibit celebrates and champions all who identify as women and their significance in our world.”
John Fierro, president and CEO of the Mattie Rhodes Center, elaborated on that description in the press release, saying the exhibit pays homage to Latinas in particular.
“The Mujer (Women) show is a time to reflect on the achievements and contributions of our Latinas. The exhibition offers our Hispanic women artists a great opportunity to share their stories, and to honor their contributions,” he said.
Art by Ayala, one of the artists whose work appears in the exhibition, said women and their diverse roles in society and culture frequently appear in her work.
“All of my artwork is about the divine feminine energy, and every single one of my pieces has symbolic representation of that, of women, of divine femininity,” she said, “and it really means a lot to me. That’s where I draw all of my inspiration from.”
Ayala said she notices that women from generations past didn’t take time for themselves nor honor their own accomplishments – something she works hard to do in her work as an artist.
“Being of indigenous ancestry, I feel like my mom or even the older women, the older generation, didn’t understand how to have self-love, and so I want to show that type of self -love in my artwork,” she said, “and not only do just for the month, but just forever in my portfolio. It’ll always be something in my work.”
Ayala said she’s glad to see society making progress in making space for women in places where they previously weren’t allowed or didn’t have a voice.
“Now, with social media, the economy is changing in a way to where entrepreneurs are more popular, women can become their own bosses, women are actually on top of the game right now when it comes to being an entrepreneur and creatives,” Ayala said. “it’s a whole (different) world that we’re living in.”
In addition to the exhibit, the center will sponsor a women’s symposium on Saturday, March 9.
“It’s all about celebrating women beyond the show like self-care and how women need to understand their value and worth,” Mendez explained. “How are you going to put on the extra mask for someone else before you take care of yourself, right? So that’s going to be a topic of the conversation, but this is just the start of it.”
For more information, visit www.mattierhodes.org.
