Mexic-Arte Museum

Mexic-​Art is small but memorable. Their rotation of exhibits from emerging artist showcases to explorations of Latin American nativities during Christmas always impresses and engages me.
I’ve been here a half dozen times over the last 2 years and will continue.
Thanks for adding so much to Austin’s limited art museum scene.

A hidden gem in Austin’s museums. Went today; everyone enjoyed the Austin Loteria exhibit and the Nacimentes display. Informative and pleasant. I wish it was bigger; someone should give them a lot of money. It is actually kind of shameful that a city whose history is as vibrantly Hispanic as Austin doesn’t have more museum than this — and that falls on the majority. Beautiful.

Came here when they were in full-​blown Dia De Los Muertos exhibition mode. they had a ton of altars set up with explanations about the history of customs and the significance of certain Latin American figures.
It cost $ 5 to get in, and the museum was pretty quick to get through. The things that probably took the most time were the movie clips they were showing, and the timeline of the history of the museum.
One of the pieces from their timeline was about a «Death to Dollars» event they threw to discuss how Dia De Los Muertos and sugar skull imagery have been used to create profits. Reminded me of an article I read on Facebook right after Halloween about «cultural appropriation».
Which brings me to their museum shop. They had a ton of cool merchandise, including shirts, mini sugar skulls, candy, and other décor items for the house. Bought a couple of unique gifts, but couldn’t help but think about the whole Death to Dollar things. Oh well. It was a good enough way to kill an hour.

I have to agree with a lot of the other reviews here — — I wouldn’t really say that this is a museum as much as a gallery. Go in with your expectations set accordingly.
I was in town last week and stayed at the JW Marriott. I was excited to discover that this museum was just a couple of blocks away, although there was seemingly little fanfare. (Nobody else I spoke with at the conference seemed to know about it!) It was only $ 5 to get in, which is a steal, and there was a wonderful exhibit on Dia de los Muertos (very timely with Halloween around the corner). Around ²⁄₃ of the museum space was dedicated to this exhibit. There were several altars showing traditional altars in different regions or areas of Mexico. There was also an accompanying explanation so that you knew what to look out for or what was typical of that area. It was very, very interesting, very, very beautiful, and very, very well put together!!! I feel so fortunate to have walked in to discover this because I have never seen anything like it!
The other ¹⁄₃ of the museum was like an accompanying exhibit about the history of Dia de los Muertos celebrations in Austin. Initially I found it interesting, although it was kind of moot because I wasn’t going to be able to celebrate there this year and I didn’t really know enough about Austin to put a lot of it in context. It was kind of cool to see how things changed and grew in the last 25+ years, but I feel like the target audience would be locals who have first hand experience and memories.
In any case, I definitely recommend checking the museum out, especially for this exhibit!

Honestly, it should be called a gallery and the entrance should be free. $ 5 ticket price doesn’t worth it. Though the store looks pretty cool with a lot of random sweets from Mexico and Dia de Los Muertos souvenirs.

Really moving! I don’t want to give away any of the museum, but there are pieces that speak on the many innocent cartel murders. And Mexican artists tell such a story through their pieces on coming to America. Videos on why wrestling is such a big thing in Mexican culture. The gift shop is great with a lot of cool things! Worth the money, in my opinion!

This is an incredible museum. We were leaving brunch and I saw a sign that said «free family Sunday» so I had to stop in. I’d passed this museum before when I was stumbling through 6^th and completely forgot about wanting to check it out. Shame on me.
The museum is inspiring and sad. A majority of the art is local and absolutely heartbreaking and beautiful. To know that so much of the country is founded on the labor of others and they still are treated as second hand citizens is what really hit me when I was admiring the pieces.
My favorite piece was the body count tags. I literally walked into the center of it and just let myself get immersed. My other favorites were the ballpoint pen on packaging tape, the weighed down broken bicycle, and the Mexican posters.
I highly recommend checking this museum out.

Awesome! My boyfriend and I came to Austin for vacation last weekend and we were just walking along downtown Austin when we spotted this place. We were both intrigued by it and the $ 5 entrance fee reeled us in. The gallery is small, with two main rooms and one room in the back. It’s really nice though and has a lot of great pieces inside. My boyfriend and I spent a lot more time analyzing each one than we thought we would. My favorite has to be the femicide body bag tags. It was a beautiful display of the tags, the red and orange colors almost glistened in the light. Overall, had a great time here and would totally come back!

Was super excited to come check this place out. Especially after seeing online they had a Dia de los Muertos exhibit. Small gallery, which I would not have minded except for the fact the few pieces of art they did have were not too exciting. They had a whole wall of news papers with a bunch holes punched out of them using a hole punch, nothing else done to them, and then put in a simple white frame ??? Im pretty open when it comes to art, but what is artistic about that? Spent more time in their gift shop then I did in their gallery.

A tiny three-​room gallery with a gift shop. I did enjoy it, but it took less than half an hour to explore. I imagine that most of their revenue comes from renting out the space for parties.

I’ve been here twice, the 2^nd time it was more enjoyable. The creaky floors give it character. They had some good works this time, much more modern. No parking nearby, so prepare to walk a bit. They definitely change it up often it seems, which to me is a good thing.

My second time here. Each time I’ve come it’s been on free museum day. Truly enjoy the artwork here and there’s something new everything. It’s free every Sunday. There is a gift shop located in the museum. It’s an older building and the walls, floor and ceiling could use some updating, but it does make it unique.

I’m from NYC, where there’s a distinct difference between an art museum and a gallery– this has more of a gallery feel, but the price to browse (low) is worth it to support this place, and the atmosphere it provides.
We were invited to another gallery in Austin called Women and their Work, and found it extremely lacking (it had one exhibit and that was it – huge let down), but Mexic-​Arte made our trip worthwhile. The current Young Latina Artists exhibit is top notch – I was surprised to see a few Brooklyn favorites on the walls. Excellent exhibit that’s also glbt friendly.
Will be visiting Mexic-​Arte again!

I would say that this is more of the size of a gallery. I was lucky enough to attend on a day when I could purchase a piece from the gallery and I came home with a piece from Jonathan Rebolloso for $ 35, which is a better price than galleries around town.

Although it’s a small museum, it has teeth.
It’s a perfect place to duck into and spend an hour or two if you are showing people around the city. Although it’s a few walkable blocks from the state’s capitol, this ain’t no Texas museum ya’ll; no bluebonnet paintings or horse sculpture to speak of. It’s a community-​minded, forward-​thinking museum that promotes young artists and Mexican culture. The serigraph collection I saw was colorful, quirky, surreal, impactful: worth the admission price alone.

Love this place, one of the great places to go see in Austin. I very much enjoy the Mexican style of art, so it is really nice for me to go and be able to see it there.
I also like the items in the gift shop. They have lots of cool little artifacts and souvenirs that make great gifts. Highly recommend you visit this shop if you’re in austin. It is right down the street from the capital!

It’s a small museum with a gift shop and two room gallery.

Mexic-​Arte is one of the places you should experience if you’re visiting Austin. And if you’re a Latino living in Austin and have not yet made it out here: shame on you. Shame. Ándele, mijo, go get some culture!
Yes, it is small, but they have been doing great things for the Latino art community for many years. I’ve been to many shows here (visual and performance). Some of my friends performed here for SXSW one year. Heck, I’ve even performed here with my band for an opening and had a great time.
Mad props to James Huizar for putting together that fabulous «Grafficanos» show and for bringing some SANER to the ATX, AND for including Niz. Thank you for all you do and for keeping it relevant.
Love their little shop, too. There’s no such thing as having one too many calaveras shirts.

This review is based on our visit to the place during Dia de los Muertos. Not only did they have exhibits in their indoor exhibition, but they also head a wonderful block party. First, the exhbition itself was quite educational with a varied lot of memoribilia related to the holiday and its celebration of the dead. There was nothing too spectacular about the exhibits itself and some displays just seemed a bit random but everything did feel culturally relevant, esp the several examples of the memorials that people make for their deceased love ones. Thankfully it was free, but definitely wanted to give a donation because of the work they do… the block party was fantastic! I was wondering why I saw some random folks with skulls painted on their faces… I honestly thought it was just some Halloween event at some bar but knowing they were coming from here made it all that much cooler! Loved the artwork, the gigantic puppets, the many skeleton sculptures, and with the music in the air, it definitely felt like a lively celebration to commemorate the dead. Posted several pics of our time there… we weren’t expecting to do this but since it was on our way to 6^th street, I’m glad we did!

Just walked around the outside of this building. The perimeter is gorgeous!!!