Alma and Cristina Mérida, daughter and granddaughter of
Mérida respectively. This legacy comprises graphic works,
photographs, memories, objects pertaining to the artistic
profession of Mérida, and his top master piece, the mural
‘Glorificación al Quetzal’. This collection has been entrusted
to, and is found at, Museo Nacional de Arte Moderno which was named after the artist -, but it was exhibited at La
Galería by provision of the Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes
de Guatemala represented by the Director of the museum,
José Mario Maza, Architect. A series of 10 lithographs from
selected works in the files of original engravings was printed
for art collectors.
February 2013 - On the occasion of the III Annual Convention
of IWCA (International Women in Coffee Alliance) in the city
of Guatemala, there was an exhibition on the topic Mujer y
Café [i.e. Woman and Coffee]. This exhibiton counted with
the participation of sixty artists who linked different trends and
languages such as video, photography, painting, sculpture,
and engravings. In this opportunity, the logistics for projecting
a video, produced by artist Alejandra Mastro, included the
installation of an advanced sonar device that allows directing
sound through an at-distance sound beam and in a range
or area of specific coverage. This feature provides a sort of
acoustic bubble that retains the sound spectrum and keeps
it within the designated areas, isolated from what surrounds it.
June 2013 - Twenty-three artists from El Salvador presented
‘Visiones, Arte Actual Salvadoreño’ an exhibition that revealed
a very important part of the Salvadorian artwork produced in
different disciplines of fine arts. It was an inclusive and participatory
activity conceived to share the work by different artists, from
those whose careers were already consolidated and credited
at El Salvador and abroad, to others with incipient carries and
strong proposals.
February 2014 - Three generations of Costa Rican sculptors
presented an exhibition of the two major trends in the current
sculptural creation in Costa Rica: naturalistic /realistic, and that
which emphasizes the abstract or symbolic /metaphysical line.
The set of works pertain to a new figuration that proposes a
deconstructive attitude expressed with the assembly of different
materials and objects that provide a three-dimensional effect.
28

1999 - 2015 Arte en Mayo
This activity was initially held at Hotel Camino Real; the exhibitions
gathered a fusion of ancient and contemporary art. During one of
these events, the organizers carried out a silent auction through
CCTV, the ninety percent of the exhibited works was sold. The
funds collected for sponsoring social works broke records,
allowing to honour the support offered to the following institutions:
Obras Sociales del Santo Hermano Pedro, Guardería Virgen
del Camino, Centro Nutricional Sor Lucía Roge, Hogar Marina
Guirola, and Hospicio San José. By then, the Fundación made
an extraordinary effort and bought the land for the premises
of what is currently known as Campus Médico San José. This
posed the first constructive challenge: with a seed capital and
funds collected through Cenas del Millón and a lunch at Casa
Santa María, where the scale model was shown for the first
time, donors acquired specific areas of the campus, and as
Jose Rozas-Botrán says, “With God’s blessing, the construction
of Hospicio San José for newborns and children with HIV /
AIDS started”.
In year 2004, the Museo Nacional de Arte Moderno Carlos Mérida
started a very important support for this activity by facilitating its
premises and museographic team, directed by Architect José
Mario Maza, for arranging the physical distribution of artworks.
That year, three simultaneous exhibitions were coordinated at
this museum and the premises of Aseguradora General in Zona
10, and the gallery of Fundación G&T Continental in Zona 9.
Part of the funds collected was donated to Fundación para la
Superación Integral de Niños con Lesión Cerebral -FUNSILEC.
From this date forward, the funds have been destined for institutions
operating at Campus Médico San José.
Arte en Mayo has exhibited at Museo de Arte Moderno Carlos
Mérida, more than 3,000 works and has hosted nearly 90,000
visits. These exhibitions have been recorded in 14 illustrated
catalogues that contribute important information to Central
American and Panamanian art history. Since 2013, the digital
catalogue of Arte en Mayo navigates the social networks.
Every year a prominent artist or collective group has been
honoured. To date, the honours have been for Zipacná de
León, Ramón Ávila, Roberto González Goyri, Marco Augusto
Quiroa, Elmar Rojas, Rudy Cotton, Alfredo García, Héctor Sitán,