Museo de los Pintores Oaxaqueños

The Museo de los Pintores Oaxaqueños hosts shows for emerging local artists. The building itself dates from 1695 and in 2004-5 under went restoration emerging as the art museum you can visit today. Located at the corner of Independencia and Garcia Vigil across from the Alameda de León and the Catedral de Oaxaca.

Desarrollo Luminoso by Rola Vallejo

Oaxaca has a long tradition in the arts from Monte Alban, continuing with Rufino Tamayo, and today has the artist Francisco Toledo as its most prominent representative. Since ancient times the people of the valleys of Oaxaca have been encountering the peoples of the Anahuac valley of central Mexico. Also stepping from the plateau to the isthmus they encountered the Mayan culture. There is evidence of this cultural wealth in Monte Alban and Mitla. This heritage, that the people of Oaxaca are innate artists, is evident in the Mixtec codices and murals Huijazó's Tomb. The sensitivity and creativity of the Oaxacan people is expressed in the highest aspiration of its painters. The painters are the eyes, hands and hearts of people. Their paintings leave evidence of the spiritual greatness and love for life, which for millennia has characterized the people of Oaxaca. From the ancestors who decorated the walls of the centers of knowledge in Mitla and Monte Alban, or the pictorial art in the Mixtec codices, to Miguel Cabrera, a painter of the colonial era, who left masterworks in many temples of New Spain. Now we must think about Rufino Tamayo, Rodolfo Nieto and Rodolfo Morales, as they have crossed the river on their long road to Mictlan (the underworld of Aztec mythology). Today, Francisco Toledo lives not only as a universal artist, but also as a generous patron who has given the pleiades of Oaxacan artists a cultural center, where altruism towards cultural and natural heritage is recognized. This altruism derives from Gozona, which is a word from the Zapotec that can be defined as similar to the Golden Rule. The Gozona means giving and receiving, and sharing with neighbors by paying homage to their deities as the saints are insatiable. In this art is part of the village ritual and beneficial to our imagination and our sensibilities, always tuned and alert. What is better than art and music to entertain the ceremonies? Through the mist of the mountain, the Copel, flowers, and dancing, the community reaches its exquisite fullness. The art of the party remains active with its vibrant colors, dances, ceremonies, fireworks, unusual costumes, and surprises found in the inexhaustible cascade of fruit, candy and objects found these days in public squares and markets. Oaxacan art is an expression from this feeling of community.

The Museum of Oaxacan Painters was created with the aim of providing an open space to development of contemporary visual and graphic arts in the state, offering exhibitions to promote and publicize the work of artists from Oaxaca.

Cortando Flor de Zempazuchitl, by Pedro Tapia.

Today these include Juan Alcazar, Laura Armenta, Roman Andrade, Fernando Andiacci, Modesto Bernardo, Marco Bustamante, Enrique Flores, Federico Flores, Justina Fuentes, Irma Guerrero, Sergio Hernandez, Maximo Javier, Yvonne Kennedy, Ruben Leyva, Abelardo López, Emiliano Lopez, Francisco Lopez, Gonzalo López, Luis José, Eddie Martinez, Ariel Mendoza, Arnulfo Mendoza, Felipe Morales, Guillermo Olguin Guillermo Pacheco, Tomás Pineda, Rolando Rojas, Samuel Rojas, Cecilio Sanchez, Jorge Sanchez, Emilio Sanchez, Virgilio Santaella, Alejandro Santiago, Santiago Filemeón, Crispin Valladares, Jose Villalobos, Emilia Winter and Luis Zarate.

The museum has three main objectives the promotion of the work of graphic artists from Oaxaca, encouraging contact with different streams of visual and graphic arts in Mexico and the world and promoting Oaxacan artists by linking them with other museums and galleries Mexico and abroad. 
The museum is administered by the Trust Units of Cultural Services and Tourism of the State of Oaxaca which defines the museum’s vocation as a cultural center open to all art forms, to accommodate not only exhibitions but also concerts, lectures, conferences and workshops.

The museum features various activities, both within the museum and in communities across the state. Guided tours, children's workshops, lectures and exhibition of local cultural activities, national and international. It also has a valuable and enthusiastic group of "friends of the museum" to support the activities that take place.

There are more photos in a picasa web album here. The album works from a current show back through a couple of shows in 2010 and 2009.