Ofrenda: Juan O’Gorman and a Legacy of Muralism

In celebration of Día de los Muertos, the San Antonio Museum of Art (SAMA) will present a special collaboration with the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México San Antonio (UNAM San Antonio). Ofrenda: Juan O’Gorman and a Legacy of Muralism will pay homage to the renowned Mexican artist and architect who created the iconic mosaic mural Confluence of Civilizations in the Americas for Hemisfair '68.

A team of five UNAM students—Jhosep Bonillas, Rodrigo Gael Martínez, Pabel Erubey Medina, Diana Valeria Nápoles, and Mariana Tovar de Alba— submitted the winning proposal to build an ofrenda, or altar, at the UNAM San Antonio campus in a competition at the School of Architecture at UNAM in Mexico City. They were then invited by SAMA to build a complementary ofrenda at the Museum with assistance from the Museum’s staff. Traditional items and materials will be used to create the ofrenda which will feature an elaborate tapete (tapestry). Beer bottles will also be used as a nod to SAMA's history as the old Lone Star Brewery. The altar will be placed next to Carlos Rosales-Silva’s mural Pase Usted, as his practice is greatly influenced by Mexican Muralism and O’Gorman. 

The ofrenda will be on view in SAMA’s Great Hall from Thursday, October 26 to Thursday, November 30. Visitors will have the opportunity to see how the ofrenda is installed on Thursday, October 26.