Jose Makes Art

02/16/2026

Ilia Malinin junto a Donovan Carrillo viendo el patinaje artístico en parejas durante estos Juegos Olímpicos 💗

En mi mente ellos son los de Yuri On Ice 👀🥰

06/07/2025

❤️El traje de las mujeres de Tlahuitoltepec, en la región Mixe, es una expresión hermosa de la identidad cultural.

🌸Blusa: Generalmente es de algodón y está ricamente bordada a mano con motivos que pueden representar flores y elementos de la naturaleza, simbolizando la conexión con su entorno. Los colores son vibrantes, lo que refleja la alegría y el espíritu de la comunidad.

🌸Ceñidor: Este es un elemento esencial que se utiliza para ajustar la blusa a la cintura. Suele estar decorado con varios elementos destacando, las montañas, flores, veredas, el gallo, el danzante, y el maguey.

🌸Falda: Las faldas son largas y amplias, confeccionadas en telas estampadas o de manta en el cual se bordan elementos que representan la cultura de Tlahuitoltepec ✨ La falda se utiliza no solo como prenda, sino también como símbolo de orgullo y herencia.

✨❤️El traje no solo es una forma de vestir, sino también una representación del legado cultural y la historia de las mujeres mixe. Llevarlo es un acto de orgullo y una manera de preservar nuestras tradiciones.

Artesanía La Tlahuitoltepecana
🌸Blusa: Victorino Díaz
🌸Ceñidor: Villulfo Reyes
🌸Falda: Nahielly Díaz

11/16/2024

This is a gorgeous exhibit that represents the personal and artistic development of Cecilia Beaven, a Mexico City and now Chicago artist. Her work was born out of graphic street art and Mexican mythology. This show shows how the seeds of her Mexican roots have evolved into questioning identity and how we are forced to present ourselves. It’s a beautifully personal and raw but vibrant and playful exhibition.

The National Museum of Mexican Art has been spending almost a year learning and evaluating all aspects of accessibility. This exhibit is a first for us, as we asked the artist to include a piece that allows visitors to touch and engage with it as part of their artistic vision. The figure allows people with visual impairment or sensory issues to engage with her art in a very personal way.

11/04/2024

Next year, for Dia de Los Mu***os we’re having a “Cat Y Catrina” parade. Who’s with me?

04/14/2024

Inspiring!

04/04/2024

I was honored to be profiled for an article by the Chicago Reader about my participation in the this year and last year. Link in bio. Journalist Julia Lowe wrote a wonderful piece about this fun event! Although I wasn’t selected for the top 20 this year and I won’t be showing in the finals I had a blast and I learned a lot! Good luck to all the finalists and I can’t wait to see what everyone created! 🥰❤️

01/17/2024

Posted • The National Museum of Mexican Art (NMMA) is pleased to announce the appointment of its new President and CEO, José Ochoa, effective today. He succeeds Museum founder, President and CEO Carlos Tortolero, who retired on December 31, 2023, after
more than 40 years of leadership.

Ochoa joins the Museum from the ChiArts Foundation of the Chicago High School for the Arts, where he served as President. Previously, he served as founding Executive and Artistic Director of ChiArts.
Prior to these roles, Ochoa was Superintendent of Cultural Arts for Nashville, Tenn., supervising the dance, music, theater, and visual arts departments,
two museums, and the special events department.

“This is the honor of a lifetime and a full-circle moment in my life, to return to my roots but with a wealth of knowledge and experience to lead this marvelous institution into its next chapter,” Ochoa said.

A champion for art and culture, Ochoa will elevate the Museum’s national presence and reputation in his new role, creatively enhance programming, and increase impact in Chicago and
beyond.

“José’s energy and empathy, his success in engaging young people and in creating opportunities all combine to make him the perfect person to lead the Museum at this exciting time in its journey,” said Carlos Tortolero.

Located in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood, the National Museum of Mexican Art is one of the country’s most prominent Latino cultural organizations and the only nationally accredited
museum dedicated to Mexican art and culture. In 2020, the Museum earned the honor of being named one of America’s Cultural Treasures by the Ford Foundation. Its Permanent Collection consists of more than 20,000 artworks. The Museum has presented over 150 exhibitions, provides arts education to 52,000 students each year and serves over 150,000 annual visitors
from 60 countries. Admission to the Museum is always free.

01/12/2024

I can finally share my news. On Tuesday, I begin my new role as the next President and CEO of the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago. This is a dream come true that I never dared to dream.

ChiArts will always be special to me. What we accomplished there is still mind-boggling to me, and the ChiArts Alumni make me feel so proud. All the hard work and struggles were validated by the way the alums have gone into the world.

This summer, returning to Texas for my parents’ Celebration of Life and my return to Chicago was a turning point for me. I realize all that I and my family have sacrificed and all I’ve put aside to do that work.

To not only be a part of but lead the NMMA will probably take me many years to articulate truly. I’m so honored, so proud, so humbled. I’ve wanted to call my parents every day for weeks. I know they’re with me today, and I feel the ancestors too. My sweet Sara Youngblood-Ochoa, Benjamin, my father-in-law Tom, and my sisters Esther Ochoa Gonzales and Linda Ochoa Pinckard were with me the whole way. I have many emotions about this, but I feel so much love. Check out the clip below.

Jose Ochoa has been named the new executive director of the National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen after the founder retired last month after 40 years.

01/01/2024

Exhibit opening, "Euphoria", this Friday at !
The show explores the theme of happiness and the complex blend of emotions that exist alongside it. The artworks reflect personal responses to the theme and explore how euphoria can be found and experienced in a variety of ways including in the joy of movement, the love of the natural world, the brilliance of color and the creative process itself.

EXHIBITION DATES: January 5 - February 24, 2024
ARTIST RECEPTION: Friday, January 5 from 5:00 - 9:00PM, CDT during ArtWalk in Downtown Corpus Christi

Sneak peek of "Home of the Cotton pickers #1: We Think It's Beautiful", is a fiber sculpture that pays homage to my hometown's agricultural legacy. The series highlights our infamous "Cottonpicker" mascot and the struggles the Robstown community endures due to decades of systemic racism.