July 23, 1999
Tatiana Favella, a flourishing Baja California portrait artist, will present her premier United States exhibition through September 6 in cooperation with the San Diego Historical Society. The exhibit, entitled "Ethnic Groups of Baja California, will be showcased at the Serra Museum in San Diego's Presidio Park located above Old Town State Historical Park.
Twenty portraits will depict the grace and dignity of southwestern ethnic groups whose survival is threatened by assimilative processes. According to the artist, "The pictorial expression has many faces, but for me, none is more useful than that which reveals what is lost or is being lost." She added, "The total I seek when I reproduced the faces of the ancient and modern Californians from these ethnic groups is fundamentally to retain through color and form the images of unique human beings."
The collection of oil on canvas portraits includes titles such as "Invocation: A Scene of the Weeping Festivity, a Pai Pai Rite," "Young Woman From the Mojave Desert." and "Don Cruz, The Story Teller."
Senora Favella left a successful career as a professor teaching public health at Guadalajara University to devote herself in 1981 to portrait painting. She most recently completed an exhibition of ten portraitures at Sociedad de Historia of Tijuana.
Adult admission: $5, children ages 6-17 $2; under age 6 free. Seniors 65 and over, Active-Duty Military, and Students: $4. Members receive free admission. The museum is open Friday through Sunday, 10:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. until July 18. Summer hours will be extended to Tuesday through Sunday, 10:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m., from July 20 through September 5.
The Serra Museum, constructed on the site of the first Spanish mission and adjoined by a fortified settlement which has undergone archaeological excavation in past years, marks the first European settlement on the West Coast, or Alta California as it is known to historians. Named after Father Junipero Serra, the museum celebrates the 70th anniversary of its dedication in July, and the 230th anniversary of Captain Gaspar de Portola's landing. Until that time, the region was populated solely by Native American people.
In addition to the Serra Museum, the Society operates the Villa Montezuma historic home in Sherman Heights, the Marston House in Balboa Park and the San Diego Historical Museum and Research Archives also in Balboa Park. For more information please call (619) 232-6203 or visit our website at http://edweb.sdsu.edu/sdhs/.
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