.png)
How Fundraiser for National Mexican Art Museum Became So Spirited
- Bob Benenson
- Jul 23
- 4 min read
Sunday's Copitas de Sol Event Marries Art with Agave
The countdown is on for Copitas de Sol, the fundraising event this Sunday (July 27) at and for the National Museum of Mexican Art on Chicago's South Side (1852 W. 19th St.).
The event is focused on Mexico's deep heritage of spirits — mezcal and tequila — made from the agave plant. It will feature a selection curated by Chicago's Lou Bank, one of the nation's leading experts on agave spirits and founder of the non-profit organization S.A.C.R.E.D. (Saving Agave for Culture, Recreation, Education and Development), which helps improve lives in the rural Mexican communities where heritage agave spirits are made..
Tickets are still available for the event's first session, which goes from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Titled "Agave Tales," the segment will feature conversations with brand ambassadors, restaurateurs and bartenders, followed by a guided tour of the exhibition Nuestras Historias: Stories of Mexican Identity from the Permanent Collection.
The second segment — "Agave Vibes," featuring a DJ and dancing — is sold out. Click below to access our previous article about the event, which has more details.
The following are excerpts from a Local Food Forum interview with Lou Bank and Thelma Uranga, the museum's communications and development manager, with photos of some of the beautiful and powerful art on display at the museum.
———————————————
Q: How did this partnership develop?
Lou: I wouldn't call it a partnership. This is absolutely the museum's gig. They were kind enough to let me come in and play around, because I've got a lot of friends who make a lot of really nice spirits.
Thelma: I manage the [museum's] auxiliary board, which is made up about 50 emerging leaders from various sectors. They already had the Day of the Dead Ball in November, which is their flagship fundraiser... They were ready to start something else and implement a new fundraiser... We decided we wanted to highlight agave spirits, also the educational side of agave spirits, bring in some local restaurants, and from there, it grew.
Q: A spirits-focused event might be unusual for a lot of non-profits, but this seems like a really natural fit.
Thelma: We definitely celebrate it as a part of Mexican heritage, Mexican history, and then we're also looking at the educational part of it. I think people are so familiar with tequila, but they're maybe not familiar with other expressions and how they're made.... I feel like, even with auxilary board members we encounter, they'll say, 'Oh, I don't like mezcal.' And I just tell them, wait until you come to Copitas. Try a few, talk to people you know, and talk to the ambassadors and the reps, and I think you'll change your mind.
Lou: Every time I go down to Mexico, there are things that I learned, there are things that I learned that I've been saying wrong... Look, there's absolutely commodity mezcal, there's absolutely commodity tequila. But the thing to me that's so special and so unique about these spirits is that there's so much of it that's still made in a pre-industrial manner. And when something's made in a pre-industrial manner, it's not cookie cutter.
You're gonna find these individuals whose family history, whose cultural heritage contradicts the the cultural heritage of another family. And that doesn't mean that one is right and the other is wrong. It means cultural heritage is a big umbrella... That's sort of the beauty of of what we try to put together with this festival, is you get to see such an array of different producers with different heritages.
Thelma: A lot of the conversations we have internally, or what the museum basically stands for, is that we are a place of education. We're a place where our Mexican community comes to celebrate their culture, and we're also a mirror to the Mexican community. And so there's that back and forth dialog that happens in our exhibitions, where we're either celebrating our history, we're sharing a very particular slice of Mexican culture. And the community just really looks to us as a pillar to celebrate Mexican culture. And so this is one way that we do that.
Q: I don't want to cast any cloud, but this is obviously a trying time for the Mexican-American communities in the United States, and this might be an event that would be an opportunity for people to show their support for Mexican-American culture.
Thelma: We're constantly having conversations about what's happening politically, how we can support our community and still celebrate culture. I'm hopeful that we do sell out both of our sessions, that people do support the museum and continue to support the museum... I also wanted to point to our statement of solidarity. It lives on our website and it's also printed downstairs, and basically reinforces the museum's stance. We've always been an organization that stands on activism, that supports our community, and we're a safe space for all people to celebrate and to learn Mexican culture.
———————————————
The National Museum of Mexican Art's Statement of Solidarity
The National Museum of Mexican Art has worked tirelessly for 30 years to affirm the deep artistic and cultural contributions of Mexicans on both sides of the border. Now, more than ever, our museum stands in solidarity with all communities targeted by hateful rhetoric and racist attacks.
We open our doors every day to welcome every single visitor, and encourage our diverse public – teachers, artists, students and families – to engage with art in ways large and small. We reaffirm our commitment to community work and our belief in the museum as a safe space for all.
Art has the wonderful capacity to bring us together, to create hope, and to fortify us for the hard work of resisting hatred. We value the Mexican experience and expect that while you are here as a visitor you are mindful and respectful of our artwork, our guests, and our staff. We appreciate your visit, and we hope that it inspires learning, exploring, and meaningfully engaging with our community and our culture.
Comments