An elegant historic home along the Paseo de Montejo has been given new life as a cultural center honoring Mérida’s most famous painter.
Photos of the Centro Cultural Fernando Castro Pacheco were released Monday, previewing 56 works that will be on view at the former municipal archive at Calle 39 — a prime tourist area surrounded by hotels and restaurants and a block from the Palacio Cantón archaeological museum.
An exhibition titled “De color y eternidad” (“Of Color and Eternity” will be open to the public later this month. The exhibit consists mainly of medium-format paintings, along with some sculptural works.
The cultural center is almost ready, but not quite. The opening date and admission prices will be announced on the AyuntaMérida Facebook page sometime this month.
The governor’s palace on the Plaza Grande has a hall with 27 larger-scale Pacheco murals commissioned by the state in the 1970s. They depict the harsh realities of life for the Maya after the Spanish conquest. Throughout his career, Pacheco’s prominent themes include Yucatecan women and the mestiza.
The Mérida-born artist died in 2013 when he was 95.
