It was not the first time the museum resembled a classroom, nor would it be the last.
On a Saturday afternoon last year, more than 60 children sat on the floor of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, drawing and discussing big questions: What does it mean to be an American? Who gets to decide that? What’s the difference between America and América? This exchange was sparked by the MCA’s Faith Ringgold exhibition and through activities in English, Spanish, and French. Hours later, evidence of the kids’ creativity could be observed around the museum’s work space, along with crumbs of the Rosca de Reyes, bread broken in celebration of Día de Reyes, or Three Kings Day.
As the day unfolded, it became clear that the partnership between the MCA Chicago and the Mexican Consulate had new resonance and urgency. Not only because our two organizations believe art is uniquely capable of helping kids engage with the world around them, but because many of those sixty children were recent arrivals to our city from places such as Venezuela, Haiti, Guatemala, or Honduras.
Many are now part of the vibrant and diverse Spanish-speaking communities of our city, to which the Mexican Consulate had led outreach efforts. That day, the impact and necessity of our shared goal — increasing access to art for all Chicagoans — was evident.
The partnership between the MCA and the Mexican Consulate is an organic collaboration that may seem unusual. What does diplomacy have to do with contemporary art? In our roles as the MCA’s Pritzker Director and the Consul General of Mexico in Chicago, both of us have made careers out of connecting people, whether across geographic, linguistic, or cultural divides.
For Madeleine, the importance of inclusivity and accessibility was crystallized when she moved from Venezuela to the U.S. at 15, long before beginning her career in the art world. Under her leadership, the MCA has transitioned into a bilingual museum connecting with varied Spanish-speaking communities in Chicago. For Reyna, it was her journey from Mexico to locations around the world as a career civil servant, leading to her current role as Consul General of Mexico in Chicago. Her team serves three million people of Mexican origin in Illinois and Northern Indiana alone. They help with documentation, legal advice, health, financial education and offer cultural activities.
Where art and public service meet
Together, the MCA and the Mexican Consulate in Chicago have collaborated numerous times: for a very special family day to celebrate Children’s Day, or Día del Niño, in Little Village, where families enjoyed a day of art while learning about the many communities that call Chicago home; or the Consulate’s Mexico Week in Chicago, during which the MCA offered free access to the museum, art workshops for children and appearances by some of Mexico’s biggest lucha libre stars. We are already witnessing the impact of our partnership: the museum has seen a significant increase in attendance at its family programs in 2024, including Latino families from different areas of Chicago, and total attendance nearly doubled between 2022 and 2023.
Working at the intersection of art and public service, we have found that culture is a powerful tool. Culture is a place where we can all meet, and feel safe and included, even when we feel far from our families, roots, and ways of life. Our pan-institutional partnership, spanning two seemingly unrelated fields, is bridging differences and connecting communities with meaningful cultural experiences. As we look towards the new year, we invite other organizations and institutions across Chicago to join us in protecting and building community through similar partnerships.
That winter day at the museum, kids discovered a beautiful Three Kings Day tradition: the Rosca de Reyes customarily embedded with one or more hidden baby Jesus figurines. Whoever finds one is said to be blessed with good luck and is duty bound to organize the next celebration.
So, who will help us plan the next party?
Madeleine Grynsztejn is Pritzker Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Ambassador Reyna Torres Mendivil is the Consul General of Mexico in Chicago.
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