“Mexican Roots: Masks, Prints, & Traditional Arts of Mexico,” September 12 through February 21

Saturday, September 12, through Sunday, February 21

Figge Art Museum, 225 West Second Street, Davenport IA

With the third-floor exhibition boasting masks, prints, sculpture, and other mediums reflecting the richness of traditional Mexican art forms, Mexican Roots: Masks, Prints, & Traditional Arts of Mexico will be on display at Davenport's Figge Art Museum September 12 through February 21, its fascinating works a celebration of the blending of Indigenous and European cultures that emerged after the Spanish conquest.

Despite centuries of cultural change, many communities have preserved traditions passed down through generations. Artists continue to draw inspiration from nature, mythology, animals, and death, adapting these enduring themes to contemporary life. Alongside masks and prints, Mexican Roots: Masks, Prints, & Traditional Arts of Mexico features exceptional examples of Mexican ceramics, woodcarving, and cartonería (papier-mâché sculpture). Together, these works showcase the remarkable diversity, craftsmanship, and enduring vitality of Mexico's artistic traditions.
The Figge Art Museum is the premier art exhibition and education facility between Chicago and Des Moines. Its landmark glass building on the banks of the Mississippi, designed by British architect David Chipperfield, is home to one of the Midwest’s finest art collections, and presents world-class traveling exhibitions. Its studios, auditorium and spacious lobby are alive with art classes, lectures and special events that attract visitors of all ages.

The Figge was formed as the Davenport Municipal Art Gallery in 1925, with the passage of a law allowing the city to accept of a gift of 334 artworks from a former mayor, Charles A. Ficke, and open a museum. It was renamed the Davenport Museum of Art in 1987. It continued to be a city-run museum until the opening of its new building in 2005, which was named in honor of a major gift from the V.O. and Elizabeth Kahl Figge Foundation. At that time, the city transferred responsibility for management, care and exhibition of its collection to the Figge Art Museum, a nonprofit organization. Ficke’s original collection of European, American and Spanish Viceregal art has grown through the efforts of generations of philanthropists and civic leaders and now includes the Grant Wood Archive and works by other American Regionalist artists, an extensive collection of Haitian art, and contemporary works. The Figge is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.

Mexican Roots: Masks, Prints, & Traditional Arts of Mexico will be on display in the Davenport venue's third-floor galleries from September 5 through January 10, with regular museum hours 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesdays through Saturdays (10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursdays) and noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Museum admission is $8-14, and more information on the exhibit is available by calling (563)326-7804 and visiting FiggeArtMuseum.org.