Salón de la Plástica Mexicana

Hall of Mexican Fine Arts

Salón de la Plástica Mexicana
View of the Colonia Roma building
Established	16 November 1949
Location	Mexico City
Visitors	400 per day
Director	Cecilia Santacruz
Website	www.salondelaplasticamexicana.bellasartes.gob.mx

Salón de la Plástica Mexicana (Hall of Mexican Fine Art; SPM) is an institution dedicated to the promotion of Mexican contemporary art. It was established in 1949 to expand the Mexican art market. Its first location was in historic center of the city but today it mostly operates out of a building in Colonia Roma. The institution is run by a membership of almost four hundred recognized artists and holds multiple exhibitions each year. Although it operates autonomously, it is part of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura.

When it opened in 1949, the main purpose of the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana was to promote the work of Mexican artists, creating a larger and more active market for Mexican art with emphasis on contemporary works. The works are often offered at discount prices and include drawings, engravings and watercolors as well as oils. The idea is to promote art to the general public as well as to large collectors. Among its initial objectives was to sell artists’ work without charging a commission. However, today the mission of the institution is to promote the work of its members without being involved in actual sales.

It is a dependency of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes but operates autonomously. It has control of two locations, its original building in the historic center of Mexico City on Donceles Street and a former mansion in Colonia Roma on Colima Street which it operates out of.

The Salón has been an important source of works for institutions such as the Museo de Arte Moderno has its own important collection of contemporary art which increases each year. It is affiliated with the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes with the aim of opening a Museo Nacional de Artes Plásticas. The institution receives on average of 400 visitors per day.

The Salón is run by a membership of almost four hundred, who have been selected based on their outstanding careers. All of the members are well-established artists who are selected based on application which consists of samples of their work and curricula. The general coordinator is Cecilia Santacruz.

The Salón has maintained a list from its beginning of the best Mexican artists which include Ignacio Aguirre, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Raúl Anguiano, Luis Arenal, Dr. Atl, Abelardo Ávila, Angelina Beloff, Alberto Beltrán, Ángel Bracho, Celia Calderón, Federico Cantú, Fernando Castro Pacheco, José Chávez Morado, Erasto Cortés Juárez, Olga Costa, Dolores Cueto, Germán Cueto, Gonzalo de la Paz Pérez, Francisco Dosamantes, Jesús Escobedo, Arturo García Bustos, Jorge González Camarena, Jesús Guerrero Calvan, Xavier Guerrero, Frida Kahlo, Agustín Lazo, Amador Lugo, Leopoldo Méndez, Carlos Mérida, Gustavo Montoya, Tosia Malamud, Francisco Mora, Nicolás Moreno, Nefero, Luis Nishizawa, Juan O'Gorman, Pablo O'Higgins, Carlos Orozco Romero, Luis Ortiz Monasterio, Feliciano Peña, Fanny Rabel, Everardo Ramírez, Jesús Reyes Ferreira, Manuel Rodríguez Lozano, Diego Rivera, Antonio Ruiz, Juan Soriano, Rufino Tamayo, Cordelia Urueta, Héctor Xavier, Desiderio Hernández Xochitiotzin and Alfredo Zalce.