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"I was very surprised and very proud when I did finish the piece. It was very nice, it was a feeling of, not only a mixture of being surprised, but a mixture of accomplishment. It was a mixture of affirming that there was some kind of art within me, or that I could do something." — Imelda Arisméndez

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Click here to read the transcript from a plática that the women of MujerArtes participated in at UTSA.

MujerARTES invites you to come into our Casita.

What is MujerARTES? Started in 1995 and operating out of a house in San Antonio's westside, MujerARTES is one of the groundbreaking programs of the Esperanza. It is a pottery cooperative where we work in clay, explore our creative skills and develop our oral histories. It is through sculpting, drawing, painting and telling our stories that we have created artwork that reflects our lives, as women.

It is in this sharing and learning, that we find ourselves talking about community issues that really impact us. In one afternoon, we talk about child care, family, unfair labor practices, welfare and even discrimination. We recognize that for many years nuestra cultura has been criticized, ignored and even erased. We find that our culture is now being neatly-packaged for tourists and television commercials. We strive to recapture our cherished voices and struggle to maintain our wonderful traditions found in our Mexicana / Chicana / Indígena/ Mestiza communities of San Antonio, South Texas and México. We recognize that as women, we are the keepers of our cultures and that it is through us that our traditions move to the lnext generations.

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La Casita de MujerArtes is located at:
1412 El Paso St
San Antonio, TX 78207
Ph. (210) 223-2585

Hours:
Monday thru Thursday
9:30am - 2:30pm
call (210) 223-2585 to confirm hours

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I don't know anything about my history. Being a mujer is important. I hunger for my history and where I'm from. I would like to know what my ancestors were like and what their traditions were." — Rosa Maria Peña

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MujerArtes is made possible
by generous grants from the
Texas Commission on the Arts
and the San Antonio Area Foundation.