In 2022, an exciting project began at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts in collaboration with community partner Artes de México en Utah. The UMFA invited community members to visit the Ancient Mesoamerican gallery and share their thoughts on the space. Almost 50 people came to the first Transformación cultural: Nuestro pasado es presente meeting, from which a dedicated group formed to collaborate with the museum over the next three years. This group of amazing people set to work re-envisioning the Ancient Mesoamerican gallery as a new space that reflects the richness of living cultures, identity and the art of Mexico, Central and South America.
After nearly three years of work, the Utah Museum of Fine Arts is thrilled to announce the new galleries will be unveiled in October 2025 with an opening celebration Oct. 18. The big event titled “Nuestro pasado es presente/Our Past is Present” will feature live music and dance performances, art-making workshops for all ages, food trucks and more throughout the day. This event is free, and all are invited to attend.
The Transformación Cultural work group committee met every other month from 2022 through August 2025. This time was spent engaging in creative and reflective exercises, sharing knowledge through presentations and leading discussions on topics like symbols, ancestral connection, empathy, traditions, immigration, oral history and more. This work both informed the curatorial process and created a sense of connection between the museum and the community. The community members’ work is intertwined within all the stages of this gallery re-install project. Some are invisible and some are right on the gallery walls.
The group members’ voices and work will be present in the gallery itself. A special mural painted by Roots Art Kollective will grace the hero wall in the new gallery space. A statement developed by the members of the work group will greet visitors at the gallery entrance, and interactive videos of community members demonstrating traditional chocolate making and reflecting on their experience, the importance of cultural representation, and the impact of art will ensure that all visitors will come away with a full understanding of the rich history and the living traditions represented in the space.
Cultural transformation: Our past is present
In these galleries, our identities come together, meeting between memories and losses, guided by the lives that shaped these works—keepers of time, resilience and wisdom. Each work of art holds many stories waiting to be heard. They speak for our community, carry our struggles, and offer recognition. Behind each one are hands that shaped them, hearts that dreamed, and voices echoing through them.
We believe the stories of these artworks are also our own and, through them, we find shelter and reflection. We amplify their voices so they may speak the heart of our living community.
Together, through art and shared purpose, we imagine ourselves in this space. Here, we leave a trace of gratitude and remembrance—a gesture of honoring the past, living the present and imagining the future of the cultures of the Americas that carry us forward.
Read more about this project on the “At the Heart of it All” blog.