www.mujerobrera.org

For La Mujer Obrera, art comes from a place of struggle and demands a role in social justice work. Founded in 1981 to challenge racial and economic discrimination faced by Mexican immigrant women workers in the border city of El Paso, La Mujer Obrera is building a justice movement that respects the strengths and assets that immigrant women bring to the United States. La Mujer Obrera’s artistic and aesthetic practice is employed to counteract the negative and destructive impacts of free trade and immigration policies on their border community through community development initiatives. All of the organization’s work, whether social or artistic, seeks to preserve, adapt and promote the diverse living traditions of Mexican people.

In 2001, La Mujer Obrera opened Café Mayapan in what had previously been a 20,000 square foot abandoned warehouse. This social enterprise synthesizes the organization’s art-making and community development work by providing a space where gastronomy, painting, photography, music, and dance programs also create opportunities for work-force development. More recently, on May 1, 2009, La Mujer Obrera expanded this work with the launch of Mercado Mayapan, a unique marketplace and community center.

La Mujer Obrera sustains a robust roster of cultural programming. Their Mexican Cultural Heritage program hosts three major festivals each year which draw thousands of people; and their Museo Mayachen sponsors exhibits on the heritage of the South-Central El Paso neighborhood, as well as the history and contributions of Mexican immigrant women garment and farm workers, and the Chicano Movement.