Diego Rivera. Agrarian Leader Zapata. 1931. Fresco on reinforced cement in galvanized-steel framework. Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Fund
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Mexican army’s defeat of French troops at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, known colloquially today as Cinco de Mayo. It is now commemorated far north of the border, as Americans have embraced the date as a colorful celebration of Mexican art, food, and music.
Located just blocks away from The Museum of Modern Art, the WISE program at the Midtown Community Courthouse (MCC) is the only comprehensive initiative in New York City for women over the age of 21 who have been arrested for prostitution-related offenses. As victims of physical and sexual violence, exploitation and human trafficking, many of these women lack both the fortitude and the support that they need to escape the cycle of re-arrest and re-victimization. WISE (the name is an acronym for Women’s Independence, Safety, and Empowerment) provides this support through individual and group counseling, as well as by teaching financial literacy to promote economic self-sufficiency.
Frida Kahlo. Fulang-Chang and I. 1937
When curators Leah Dickerman, Luis Pérez-Oramas, and I began to discuss our plans for creating a new gallery dedicated to Mexican Modernist art made in the 1930s and 1940s—which opened in May of this year—Frida Kahlo’s Fulang-Chang and I was one of the works we were determined to include. We were intent not only to show the painting, but also to display it alongside the mirror that Kahlo made to accompany it, for reasons I’ll elaborate on a bit later.
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