The Galeria Tonantzin will host the 21st Annual Images of the Virgin Exhibit at 115 Third St. in San Juan Bautista through January 12. There will be a free artists’ reception Dec. 8, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Find out more about events happening this weekend with the Top 5 posted online each Thursday at www.sanbenitocountytoday.com and in the digest section of the Hollister Free Lance’s Friday print edition each week.
Since 1992, artists at the Galeria Tonantzin in San Juan Bautista have celebrated in December with an exhibit of women’s interpretations of the Virgin Mary.
Art enthusiasts and those interested in exploring the Guadalupe images from a feminist or spiritual perspective may also register for a conference put together by Galeria Tonantzin at the St. Francis Retreat Center, Dec. 7-9. The conference starts Friday evening at 6 p.m., with dinner, followed by two evening presentations. There will be five presentations on Saturday, followed by the artists reception at the gallery in San Juan, with participants offered a chance to attend an El Teatro Campesino performance of “La Virgen de Tepeyac” (tickets must be purchased separately from conference fees.) Sunday the conference will include two presentations and a panel.
The conference this year will focus on the Mexican image of Guadalupe, “our Mother” Tonantzin, the patroness of the gallery. The celebration coincides with the last year the gallery will operate in the Vache Adobe. They will have a closing celebration Jan. 12, from 3 to 7 p.m.
The gallery will continue to share artwork online at www.galeriatonantzin.com.
The cost of the conference is $80 per day with one meal included or $95 at the door. For day participants who want to attend all three days, the cost is $170, including one meal daily. Participants can also stay at the St. Francis Retreat for the conference for $225 for a shared room or $300 for a single, with meals included.
The speakers at the conference will include Maria Del Socorro Castaneda-Liles, who is an exhibit juror and a professor of religion at Santa Clara University along with China Galland, the author of “Longing and Darkness; Tara and the Black Maddona.” Other artists and scholars to speak will include Patricia Rodriguez, Mariabruna Sirabella, Jennifer Colby, Carmen Eliason, Lee Taiz, Kanyon Sayers-Rood and Armando Arias.
To register for the conference, call 831-623-2783.
