The National Museum of Mexican Art is located in the Pilsen neighborhood, the heart of Chicago’s Mexican Community, and is the first nationally accredited museum dedicated to the preservation and celebration of Mexican arts and culture.

Annually, the National Museum of Mexican Art holds a Día de muertos, or Day of the Dead, exhibition. The 35th iteration of the Día de muertos exhibition will include installations, altars, paintings, and prints that span from more traditional to innovative means to celebrate those who have passed through this living cultural practice. This exhibition will also include works of art from the growing National Museum of Mexican Art permanent collection, which is inclusive of local artists and artists from both sides of the border.

Plan your visit

No reservations required. Open Tuesday–Sunday 10 am–5 pm.

Día de Muertos – A Time to Grieve & Remember
September 10–December 12, 2021

Commissioned for Toward Common Cause and featured in the 2021 National Museum of Mexican Art’s annual Día de muertos exhibition is Circle of Ancestors by the artist, curator, and scholar, Amalia Mesa-Bains. This installation is dedicated to the artist’s mother, Marina Cornejo Gonzalez Mesa’s family and honors the many contributions they and other Mexican families have brought to the building of Chicago.

In addition to Circle of Ancestors and Book of the Dead by Amalia Mesa-Bains, this exhibition also features an installation by the MacArthur Fellow, poet, essayist, and performer, Sandra Cisneros. The display serves as an ofrenda to her mother, Elvira Cordero Cisneros.

Nuestras Historias: Stories of Mexican Identity from the Permanent Collection
Ongoing

This permanent exhibition showcases the diversity of Mexican identities across North America, and includes Guillermo Gómez-Peña’s sculpture New World Order—a miniature ship in a bottle that stands as a satirical ode to the historical encounter and colonialism, while noting the commodification of violence, genocide, invasion, displacement, borders, erasures, among others—as well as recently acquired photographs by the Civil Rights organizer, educator, photographer, and MacArthur Fellow Maria Varela.

Plan your visit to NMMA

About

Located in the Pilsen neighborhood, the heart of Chicago’s Mexican community, the National Museum of Mexican Art showcases 3,000 years of creativity from both sides of the border to show museum visitors the diversity of Mexican culture. Since its opening in 1987, the NMMA has sought to establish itself as an arts and cultural organization committed to accessibility, education and social justice. As the first Latino museum accredited by American Alliance of Museums, the NMMA presents exhibitions of artistic and cultural value and delivers high-quality education that demonstrates the breadth and depth of Mexican art, culture, and history.

Over the years, the institution has grown, its audience has broadened, and its reach now extends across the United States and beyond. While its presence has expanded, the NMMA remains true to its founding mission: To showcase the beauty and richness of Mexican culture by sponsoring events and presenting exhibitions that exemplify the majestic variety of visual and performing arts in the Mexican culture; to develop, conserve and preserve a significant permanent collection of Mexican art; to encourage the professional development of Mexican artists; and, to offer arts-education programs.