The Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts has played a central role in the neighborhood’s cultural life for more than four decades, but a new exhibit puts that legacy in a much longer historical perspective.
asset On Friday evening, as part of the 2022 MCCLA 45th Anniversary Gala, the center unveils the exclusive West Coast premiere of “Mayan Rulers in the Heart of the Mission – Reyes Mayas en el Corazón De La Mission.” The exhibit portrays the relief masterpieces created by the Mayan people in the ninth and 10th centuries, connecting the Mission residents who trace their roots to Guatemala and southern Mexico with the iconography of their ancestors.
Zacatecas-born master sculptor Manuel Palos created the pieces in his Bayview studio from “casts that are the only records of artworks that in many cases were stolen and later destroyed,” said Alejandra Palos, daughter of Manuel and a separate sculptor. right. Her father inherited the molds from Joan Patten, whose work to preserve Mayan sculptures was commissioned by the Guatemalan government.
Theft was already a problem at Mayan ruins like Tikal, but the devastating 7.5-magnitude earthquake of 1976 destroyed several museums displaying artifacts. Patten used her molds to replicate the damaged parts. The MCCLA exhibit features 23 of the roughly 90 cast pieces Palos is restoring, a project that is very much a work in progress because “a lot of the molds have been damaged over the years,” Palos said.
“My father takes them in his spare time and just starts working with them. Each one he makes is a cast from a mold that has been restored, and then he applies his unique finish and they look amazing. When the Mission Cultural Center approached us, we realized that now is the perfect time to start exhibiting them.”
MCCLA was founded in 1977 by artists and community activists dedicated to presenting and promoting the creative expression of the Chicanx, Caribbean, and Central and South American people, and has played a multifaceted role in the Mission. A gallery, performance space, study center and community hall, it has also taken the lead in documenting and preserving the work of visual artists and poets, sculptors, dancers and musicians.
MCCLA’s historic role in protecting Latino culture was recognized last month, when the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously named the building a city landmark. The recognition is timely, as the institution has been re-established after being closed for two years during the pandemic. With Martina Ayala taking over as executive director, MCCLA is in the hands of a veteran cultural activist who has long worked in international settings.
As a first-generation Chicana raised in East Los Angeles, Ayala grew up on the move. She graduated from Franklin High School in Highland Park, but her real education took place among the artists and cultural activists of the neighborhood.
“I’m that kid who learned to walk and dance at community cultural centers,” she said. “We didn’t have art programs in our schools. It was in the community cultural centers that we got skills that the school did not teach. I learned public speaking and was exposed to all forms of art. When I was a child, my dream was to become the first president of the United States and the most famous dancer.”
She followed that dream to the University of California, Berkeley, where she graduated with a double major in dance and political science. But as Hollywood’s 1980s “Hispanic Boom” gained momentum with films like “El Norte,” “La Bamba,” “Born in East LA” and “Stand and Deliver,” it reached pioneering filmmaker Luis Valdez. As director of Spanish-language programming for Franciscan Communications, she had a budget to make films, and Valdez put her in touch with award-winning director, playwright and writer Severo Perez, “who became a mentor to me,” she said. she. “He taught me everything about filmmaking. It’s great to see how far we’ve come since then, although we still have a long way to go.”
Ayala’s career path includes all kinds of positions in arts, education, and social service organizations. She went on to found and direct the Northeast Academy College Prep School in her old LA neighborhood, which operated from 2000 to 2006. She has lived in the Bay Area since 2007, working and consulting for a variety of organizations, including a stint as director. of training at the Family Support Network in San Francisco. “But I let it go and just focused Martina La Latina Productions, doing cultural events and galas and helping nonprofits raise money,” she said.
Getting MCCLA in the middle of a pandemic is a big challenge. Jennie Rodriguez, who led the center since the late 1990s and is widely credited with reviving the organization, left behind some big shoes to fill. Ayala sees it as a legacy to build on, but she has ambitious plans that require a serious push for resources.
“I have nothing but respect for Jenny and her leadership,” she said. “We have the same mission, but I have a very different vision and leadership style. I want to turn this into a premier cultural center, which means treating artists with respect and finding the funds to pay them. We can’t blame anyone if we don’t do our best to raise the money so we can respect and pay our employees just wages.”
Paying staff and artists isn’t the only factor when it comes to budget expansion. In addition to the pandemic, MCCLA faces a major setback as the organization undertakes a long-delayed seismic renovation that will force the center to relocate next year. “I need to raise as much money as possible and find alternative ways to deliver our program to the community so we can come back bigger and better,” Ayala said.
