Mexican art exhibit finds home in NIU library

DeKALB – Mexico City artists built dozens of alebrijes for a largely outdoor exhibit in DuPage County in 2022. Now 22 of those folk art pieces are back on display in DeKalb.

The alebrijes, a Mexican art tradition created in the 1930s by Pedro Linares, were made at Cantigny Park by artists who currently reside in Mexico City, according to a digital Northern Illinois University exhibit.

Fernando Ramirez, president and founder of the Mexican Cultural Center of DuPage County, said the art exhibit was expected to be a short term program. Public demand has kept it on display, however.

“We had a great response. People kept asking us about it, and we wanted to figure out a way to continue doing it. We never planned on continuing these pieces,” Ramirez said. “But the artists were wanting to continue doing it, so they helped us refurbish a lot of these and reconstruct them.”

Nine monumental-sized alebrijes, and 13 spirit animal alebrijes – with names ranging from Pepe for a spirit animal hippopotamus to Tarascòn for a monumental alebrijes depicting a bear, dragon and serpent combination – are now intermixed between study areas in NIU’s Founders Memorial Library.

Ramirez said students should thank the Dean of University Libraries at NIU, Fred Barnhart, for the art decor. After leaving an exhibit in Kane County in January, NIU officials quickly helped find the art pieces a new home, Ramirez said.

“I didn’t realize how big of a library they have, so that’s what they need. They have a great space to be able to hold this exhibition, because not that many places are able to do it because of the high ceilings [needed] but it’s a great opportunity.”

The papier-mâché creations aren’t expected to last forever. After five months of weathering the outdoors in Wheaton in 2022, and a trip to New Mexico in 2023, the Mexican sculptures are still as vibrant as ever scattered throughout the library.

Ramirez said the five artists who’s work is still on display never expected to see their creations live past the first exhibit.

“They know that this type of art is something that just comes and goes. They never expected it to stick around,” Ramirez said. “The art is supposed to be fragile. ... If you talk to the artists, they’ll tell you that this is art that represents people’s life. You need to enjoy them while you have them because if not you may never see them the next time. Same thing with this art, if you don’t come and see them, it could be gone.”

Jeff Reiter, senior manager of communications at Cantigny Park – part of the Robert R. McCormick Foundation – said the 2022 exhibit was a Mexican Cultural Center of DuPage County idea. Reiter said it was expected to be a major attraction for park visitors.

“And sure enough, that’s what it turned out to be. It was highly popular, it really gave a big boost to our attendance in 2022. It also brought new people to Cantigny Park, as we hoped it would. We saw visitors here, lots of them that had never been to Cantigny,” Reiter said. “It was the first time we had ever had a big artistic installation.”

The 22 alebrijes will remain in Founders Memorial Library until Nov. 8.

When Reiter was informed the alebrijes are back on display in northern Illinois, he said he’d have to take a drive to DeKalb to see them and suspected others would as well.

“Oh, I think it’s great because our visitors were kind of sad to see them go, and as far as we knew that was the end of them. So, I know that they were so popular that some of our visitors would love to go see them again, or people that didn’t make it out to Cantigny two years ago have another chance,” Reiter said. “We thought the world of the artists and the work they were doing, so it’s great to see them getting that showcase again and to be recognized for their amazing talent.”