Mexic-Arte Museum Visit

September 2025 Monthly Adventure

This month, I finally visited a museum in the heart of Downtown Austin that has been on my list of things to do for the past 7 or 8 years. I don't spend a ton of time around the downtown area outside of work, so going to the Mexic-Arte Museum was a big deal for me!

Background

While in college, I was involved in an event planning student organization. One year, there was the addition of artwork to an annual event honoring the life and legacy of César Chávez. The artwork was on loan from the Mexic-Arte Museum and I was so drawn to the beautiful pieces that I knew I would need to visit the museum one day. Fast forward about 8 years later and it finally happened! I visited the Mexic-Arte Museum on this year's Austin Museum Day -- a day in which many of Austin's museums are free for the public to visit and enjoy. Having already visited many of the museums on the list, I decided to focus my attention on the Mexic-Arte Museum.

Getting to the Mexic-Arte Museum

Austin Museum Day was on a Sunday which meant public transit options were more limited because schedules for buses and the light rail are reduced. For that reason, I decided to drive to Downtown Austin to visit the Mexic-Arte Museum. Driving there is quite easy if taking MoPac. However, parking was a bit of work (and this was the case for many of the museums according to my colleagues that went to other museums that day). There is quite a bit of street parking in the area, but it was impossible to come across an available spot without circling the block for a while. There was a paid parking lot across the street and I opted to park in the Frost Bank parking garage at the opposite end of the block from the Mexic-Arte Museum because, though still pricey at over $30 an hour, was cheaper than the paid lot.

Had it not been Austin Museum Day, I believe it would have been relatively easy to find street parking on a Sunday in Downtown Austin.

Visiting the Mexic-Arte Museum

Upon arriving at the Mexic-Arte Museum, there were several people entering and exiting at the same time. The staff propped the front door open to encourage visitors to come in. A local artisan was out front selling handmade goods as well which was mutually beneficial for drawing in museum visitors and for making sales as a small business. Once inside, I checked in so the museum could add me to their tally of the number of visitors that came in throughout the day and began to make my way through the museum.

The Mexic-Arte Museum is small, but the curated collections that are features bring so much life to every corner of the building and make it feel larger than it is. The museum primarily features artwork from local artists in a variety of mediums. There are murals, canvas paintings, sculptures, pottery, and more! In the back is an event space that was being used to feature two ofrendas and some activity tables for visitors to make cempaxochitl (marigold) seed pods due to Día de los Muertos approaching soon.

As I made my way back to the front to check out the gift shop, I noticed that a cellist had just finished setting up and was about to begin playing in the main gallery space. I took a few minutes to listen to him play and he was incredible! Even though he had the sheet music in front of him, he was obviously deeply connected to the music and knew it so well that he was making more eye contact with the audience than looking at the sheet music. I'm always impressed by people that can play instruments well, but there's something about the cello that brings out a different type of appreciation for music every time I hear a good solo! I'll post a couple of short recordings on Instagram soon!

After listening to the cellist, I worked my way through the very crowded gift shop to find an item to purchase. My go-to item is a keychain to add to my collection. I bought one that looks like a concha! They had all the colors, but I chose a yellow concha because that's my favorite to eat. While in line, I found myself by the bookshelves and I had more time to see what was available because it was a bit too crowded during my first pass at glancing through book titles. Determined to buy a book, I decided to purchase Undocumented by Dan-el Padilla Peralta which is the only book I didn't originally see until I was in line, and immediately knew I wanted to purchase once I read the back cover. I'm looking forward to reading this book!

Wrap-Up

The Mexic-Arte Museum was everything I had hoped it would be! Going on Austin Museum Day meant that the programming would be different from what may normally be offered on a Sunday and it would be extremely busy. One thing that I really like about the Mexic-Arte Museum is Sunday is typically a free day for museum visitors anyway. Street parking is likely much more favorable on any other Sunday in that specific area of Downtown Austin. I think the next time I go to the Mexic-Arte Museum, I will try to take public transit. The museum is located just a short walking distance away from the downtown station for the light rail which is super convenient for me. In that case, I would be going on a Saturday because the rail lines are not operational on Sundays. The Mexic-Arte Museum is tiny but mighty, and I can't wait to make my return for another visit in the future!

On to the next adventure!

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