Opening: Mujer Moderna: The Life and Artwork of Mago Gándara

Mujer Moderna: The Life and Artwork of Mago Gándara
On view: October 16, 2025–June 7, 2026
Opening reception: Thursday, October 16, 5:30-7:30 pm

On October 16, 2025, The Mexican American Cultural Center will debut a new solo exhibition on the first Chicana Modernist Artist in the borderlands, Mago Gándara. Mujer Moderna: The Life and Artwork of Mago Gándara brings together over 100 items, including oil paintings, watercolors, sculptures, drawings, photographs and personal writings, making it the artists most in-depth exhibition to be displayed since her feature at the Museo de Arte de Ciudad Juárez.

Born in El Paso on February 8, 1929, Mago graduated with a BFA in Arts and Education from the University of Texas El Paso where she studied under the renowned sculptor Urbici Soler. She then studied art at the Chicago Institute of Art, the University of Southern California, and received her master’s from Antioch College. Living and working between El Paso and Juárez since the 1970’s, Mago created an array of artworks on both sides of the border. A pioneer of her craft, she was the first female muralist in our region working within a large-scale format – utilizing the earth, glass, tile, stone, and found material to create her monumental public art masterpieces.