MECA PRESENTS 2019 - 2020 SEASON
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Alejandro Vela
MECA BENEFIT ConcertFriday, September 27, 2019 | 8pm Internationally touring piano soloist and MECA alumnus Alejandro Vela returns to Houston to perform a program of Gershwin, Chopin, Liszt, Ponce, & RadioHead to benefit MECA's educational, outreach, and cultural programs. SANTOS iiEXHIBIT BY IBRAIM NASCIMIENTO Friday, September 27 - OCTOBER 10, 2019 In Santos II, Nascimento uses paintings to tell his personal history in images of saints. Each image represents a blended moment between the sacred and profane and where lauded figures are rendered with humanistic detail. OFRENDA EXHIBITION BLESSING OF THE ALTARS Friday, OCTOBER 25, 2019 | 7pm This event ushers MECA into the Day of the Dead/Dia de los Muertos festivities which is truly a festival of the senses. The opening event begins with a welcoming with a visual and musical piece that includes all the colors, flavors, and elements of the Dia de los Muertos festival. honoring our past, celebrating our future DIA de los muertos festival Sat & SUN, NOVEMBER 2&3 2019 | 11am - 7pm A traditional Latin American holiday, honoring and celebrating the lives of friends and family that have gone before us. Our celebration includes an altar and retablos exhibition, foods from the Americas, performances, authentic arts and crafts. RETABLOS32: NOCHE DE RETABLOS Friday, NOVEMBER 8, 2019 | 8PM Silent auction benefit and closing event. Retablos, also known as laminas in Mexico, are small oil paintings on tin, wood, or copper which are used in home altars and Catholic churches for devotional practices. The literal translation for retablo is behind the altar. This genre of folk art, deeply rooted in Spanish history is symbolic, allegorical, historical, folkloric and spiritual. THE GREAT MOTHER December 7, 2019 - January 17, 2020 In this group exhibition, artists from Houston offer global perspectives on the archetype of The Great Mother. Rendered in various forms — from the Virgin de Guadalupe to Pachamama — this presentation shows a broad view of the ultimate matriarch to demonstrate her universality. FIESTA GUADALUPANA Thursday, DECEMBER 12, 2019 | 7PM A community celebration honoring the Virgen de Guadalupe with Las Mananitas, Serenata, Danza de los Matachines, Houston Grand Opera vocalists singing Spanish and Nahuatl procession music accompanied by Totome, musicians from Tonala. LA PASTORELA: EL WIWICHO SI EXISTE! DECEMBER 14 | 8pm & DECEMBER 15 | 6:00pm, 2019 A satirical comedy starring La Chona, an indigenous woman that thinks that Christmas revolves around material things. Her patron, Don Herculano, tells her of the perils that Joseph, Mary, and the shepherds suffer during their pilgrimage on the way to Bethlehem. Their entourage fights against forces of evil represented by demons that portray the political hurdles that immigrants suffer in this day and age. The Archangel Michael ultimately defeats the Evil Trumpcifer, proving that kindness always wins. LA POSADA IN THE OLD SIXTH WARD December 16, 2019 | 7pm A community recreation of Mary and Joseph’s journey to find shelter during the night of the birth of Christ. Characters played by MECA students and members of the neighborhood. With performances by MECA Mariachi, and guests Vanessa Cerda Alonzo & Frances Valdez. AN EVENING WITH OCTAVIO SOLIS, PLAYWRIGHT Tuesday, January 14, 2020 | 7pm A recepetion to welcome celebrated playwright, Octavio Solis. Solis' work, Quixote Nuevo is an inspiring reimagining of Cervantes’ Don Quixote directed by Austin, Texas-based KJ Sanchez and starring “Sesame Street’s” Emilio Delgado. Set in a fictional modern-day Texas border town, Quixote and his sidekick embark on an adventure in search of long-lost love. Infused with imagination, Tejano music, and true Texas soul, Quixote Nuevo shows the challenges of living in this modern world all the while in pursuit of a lost dream. The play is a co-production with Hartford Stage and Huntington Theater Company. Performances will be held at the Alley Theatre January 17 - February 9, 2020. |
CHAMBER COLLECTIVE IN CONCERT:
Voilà, Viola! Friday, January 17, 2020 | Doors Open at 7 - Concert at 8pm Voilà, Viola! is a musical smorgasbord that features the underrated but beautiful middle voice of the string quartet, with works by Vaughan Williams and Shostakovich. Chamber Collective is a Houston-based ensemble founded in 2019 that specializes in house concerts. Their goal is to bring chamber music back to the chamber by giving house concerts throughout the Greater Houston area. You can follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Eventbrite! Pre-sale tickets are $15 General Admission $20 at the door $10 students/seniors VIVA EL AMOR Friday, February 14, 2020 | 8pm MECA's annual serenade to love will feature the vocal stylings of Vanessa Alozo with dance performances by the MECA Ballet Folklorico. Stay tuned for more details. CORAZONES January 20, 2020 - February 14, 2020 MECA will invite Houston-area visual artists to contribute to our annual Viva el Amor concert and "Corazones" community exhibition and silent auction by creating a heart-shaped work of art! The exhibition and silent auction will take place during our "Viva El Amor" concert. WE HAVE IRE EXHIBITION March 6, 2020 - May 15, 2020 “We Have Iré” explores true stories of Afro-Cuban immigrants living in the United States. Its story tells of personal aspirations, inherited beliefs, and experience within American culture. This is presented in participation with the 2020 FotoFest Biennial. EL ENTRECEJO MARCH 2020 A play by Houston-based theater artist Angeles Romero about the life of Frida Kahlo. RASGOS ASIATICOS APRIL, 2020 DiverseWorks in partnership with MECA presents San Antonio-raised, Austin-based artist Virginia Grise’s multimedia performance installation. The work examines migration and displacement and aims to re-present a history of Chinese settlement in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands that’s been (imperfectly) erased. This is a National Performance Network Creation Project to be performed at MATCH. WE HAVE IRE Friday & Saturday, MAY 15 & 16, 2020 | 8pm Shaped by Flores’ research into his own roots and interviews with collaborators, the performance centers around the passion of four immigrant artists, their traditions, life in Cuba, and their individual journeys, from Cuba to the United States. We Have Iré speaks to the challenges of being an immigrant artist and celebrates the triumph of establishing one’s voice in a new country through live Cuban jazz, traditional Yoruba songs and dance, Latinx hip-hop, and spoken word. In collaboration with CubaCaribe. MY DOW SCHOOL STORY September 2020 This historical photo and video exhibit will present the Contreras (paternal) and Eguia (maternal) family members who attended Dow School; Contreras Family members involved in the Arts ; Eguia and Contreras Family Members involved in LULAC and their association with National LULAC leaders who lived in the Old Sixth Ward; and Videos of significant LULAC milestones orchestrated by LULAC Leaders who lived in the Old Sixth Ward. SACRED SOIL HOW AGRICULTURE, ANCESTRY, AND ART ALIGN Friday, May 22, 2020 | 6:30 PM FREE In October 2019, MECA launched "Sacred Soil: How Agriculture, Ancestry, and Art Align," an innovative workshop series centered around indigenous practices of planting and gardening. This six-part, artist-led series culminates Friday, May 22, 2020 with a community planting event accompanied by performances in music and dance. Limited lawn seating available - Lawn chairs encouraged. Please observe social distancing per city ordinance, we respectfully ask that you and wear a mask. |
*These events are free to the public
MECA Presents is a platform to convene community through the arts and encourage dialogue about issues ranging from social justice and equity to diversity and community transformation. From incubating works in progress to presenting local and touring work, MECA seeks to collaborate with innovative and socially engaged artists whose work expands the boundaries of tradition and practice. MECA is especially interested in projects that bring to light the experiences of life on the margins of societies, economies, and cultures.
MECA is supported in part by a grant from the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance.
MECA Presents is a platform to convene community through the arts and encourage dialogue about issues ranging from social justice and equity to diversity and community transformation. From incubating works in progress to presenting local and touring work, MECA seeks to collaborate with innovative and socially engaged artists whose work expands the boundaries of tradition and practice. MECA is especially interested in projects that bring to light the experiences of life on the margins of societies, economies, and cultures.
MECA is supported in part by a grant from the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance.
