San Benito Cultural Arts Department

San Benito Cultural Arts Department Museum and visitor center.

The City of San Benito's Cultural Arts Department runs the Cultural Heritage Museum and Cultural Center, bringing authentic art, history, and music to residents and visitors.

Mauro de la Tierra is a first-generation Mexican American from San Antonio. As a self-taught painter, sculptor, and illu...
09/04/2026

Mauro de la Tierra is a first-generation Mexican American from San Antonio. As a self-taught painter, sculptor, and illustrator, he became self-employed as a full-time artist in October 2017. De la Tierra considers himself community-made and community-driven. The artist’s work captures a side of life that is often vilified and ignored while also making a statement of love for humanity. With the use of spray paint, acrylic paint, and oil paint, De la Tierra creates heavy textures on canvas in a modern and raw style of whimsical and surreal abstract expressionism. De la Tierra’s artwork has been shown in various news outlets, including La Prensa, Spectrum News, Texas Public Radio and in art galleries including K Space Contemporary, Instituto Cultural de México, Cactus Valley Art and Presa House Gallery. De la Tierra has had five solo exhibitions.

Artwork:
Absence, 2021
Acrylic and spray paint 20” x 24”
The burden, 2021
Acrylic 48” x 36”
Grace, 2021
Acrylic, oil, and spray paint 36” x 36”
Instagram:

Our exhibition, Mixta Cultura, has come to a close. We would like to thank the guest curator, Souther Recio of Cactus Valley Art, for their partnership, vision, and commitment to creating opportunities for artists in our region. Mixta Cultura marks the culmination of how artists bring different experiences, perspectives, and voices into existence. Together, these artists explore themes of gender, border narratives and identity, mental health, and women’s rights. The result is a layered reflection of the issues shaping our communities past and present. Seen as a whole, the exhibition resonates with viewers, connecting personal experience with collective conversation. These artists and their work begin an open dialogue on the medley of emotional labor that goes into existing in the borderlands, to coexist with all aspects of life in the Rio Grande Valley. That spirit is reflected throughout Mixta Cultura. While each artist speaks in their own way, the work collectively tells a larger story about our region and the people who call it home.

Born in Mexico City and now rooted in the Rio Grande Valley, Sandro Galicia (aka FACE2FACE) is a self-taught artist whos...
09/04/2026

Born in Mexico City and now rooted in the Rio Grande Valley, Sandro Galicia (aka FACE2FACE) is a self-taught artist whose work mixes humor, heart, and heritage. His creations draw from a life shaped by border culture, animal obsessions, and the little oddities that make growing up unforgettable. Working across paper, canvas, and pixels, Sandro blends nostalgia with wit to craft a one-of-a-kind style that’s equal parts playful and personal.

Artwork:
Yo Sin Ti No Soy Nada, 2026
Acrylic on canvas 4” x 12”
Chicharra #2, 2024
Acrylic and paint marker on wood 19.25” x 13”

Our exhibition, Mixta Cultura, has come to a close. We would like to thank the guest curator, Souther Recio of Cactus Valley Art, for their partnership, vision, and commitment to creating opportunities for artists in our region. Mixta Cultura marks the culmination of how artists bring different experiences, perspectives, and voices into existence. Together, these artists explore themes of gender, border narratives and identity, mental health, and women’s rights. The result is a layered reflection of the issues shaping our communities past and present. Seen as a whole, the exhibition resonates with viewers, connecting personal experience with collective conversation. These artists and their work begin an open dialogue on the medley of emotional labor that goes into existing in the borderlands, to coexist with all aspects of life in the Rio Grande Valley. That spirit is reflected throughout Mixta Cultura. While each artist speaks in their own way, the work collectively tells a larger story about our region and the people who call it home.

C. Díaz is an artist, archivist and co-founder of ENTRE Film Center & Regional Archive in2021. They currently live and w...
09/04/2026

C. Díaz is an artist, archivist and co-founder of ENTRE Film Center & Regional Archive in2021. They currently live and work in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, designing public programming that uplifts and preserves the rich cultural legacy of the region through audio/visual archives and experimental cinema. ENTRE’s mission is to provide access, knowledge, and skills in filmmaking and archival practices, inviting more voices to document, share and preserve the vast narrative of US/Mexico border communities. Their art practice uses archives, celluloid, text, and telluric material to investigate the relationships between cerebral landscapes, the natural world, and desires.

Artwork:
Notes on Devotion Vol. 4 or Everything is cinema and the world is a stage, 2025
Typewritten ink on paper 6.375” x 6.375”
Instagram: .tx

Our exhibition, Mixta Cultura, has come to a close. We would like to thank the guest curator, Souther Recio of Cactus Valley Art, for their partnership, vision, and commitment to creating opportunities for artists in our region. Mixta Cultura marks the culmination of how artists bring different experiences, perspectives, and voices into existence. Together, these artists explore themes of gender, border narratives and identity, mental health, and women’s rights. The result is a layered reflection of the issues shaping our communities past and present. Seen as a whole, the exhibition resonates with viewers, connecting personal experience with collective conversation. These artists and their work begin an open dialogue on the medley of emotional labor that goes into existing in the borderlands, to coexist with all aspects of life in the Rio Grande Valley. That spirit is reflected throughout Mixta Cultura. While each artist speaks in their own way, the work collectively tells a larger story about our region and the people who call it home.

Marco Lopez is a visual artist, muralist, and screen printer based in the Rio Grande Valley. Marco is known as the RGV’s...
09/04/2026

Marco Lopez is a visual artist, muralist, and screen printer based in the Rio Grande Valley. Marco is known as the RGV’s Tlacuilo (tlah-quee-loh) who makes pre-Tzilacatzin imagery with a revolutionary, modern, day to day living, and futuristic expression. Lopez's work focuses heavily on border culture, labor rights, and Chicano/indigenous history. The artist is well-known for his community-based art, printmaking workshops, and collaborations with RGV organizations like Trucha.
Artwork:
Ollin oxygen generator, 2026
Mixed media
Repairing Satellites, 2021
Acrylic on canvas 47.75” x 23.5”
In the Stars, 2020
Acrylic, particle board, wood, and nails 23.75” x 46.5”
Instagram:

Our exhibition, Mixta Cultura, has come to a close. We would like to thank the guest curator, Souther Recio of Cactus Valley Art, for their partnership, vision, and commitment to creating opportunities for artists in our region. Mixta Cultura marks the culmination of how artists bring different experiences, perspectives, and voices into existence. Together, these artists explore themes of gender, border narratives and identity, mental health, and women’s rights. The result is a layered reflection of the issues shaping our communities past and present. Seen as a whole, the exhibition resonates with viewers, connecting personal experience with collective conversation. These artists and their work begin an open dialogue on the medley of emotional labor that goes into existing in the borderlands, to coexist with all aspects of life in the Rio Grande Valley. That spirit is reflected throughout Mixta Cultura. While each artist speaks in their own way, the work collectively tells a larger story about our region and the people who call it home.

Eva Ryan is the founder of Paper Caper Co. After working in the field of intimate partner violence prevention and traini...
09/04/2026

Eva Ryan is the founder of Paper Caper Co. After working in the field of intimate partner violence prevention and training intervention advocates, Eva was constantly surrounded by stories of violence and pain, of people stuck in cycles of abuse, some resulting in death. She discovered a sense of peace of mind through the art of paper cutting. As her artistry emerged she quit her full time job to pursue a new life as an artist. Eva Eyan took residency on South Padre Island where she opened her own art studio and gallery. Her life’s experience has taught her the importance of finding one’s inner peace and community that fosters positive mental health. Paper Caper Co in her words “a place of refuge and rest”. Eva Ryan’s artwork and overall mission in life is to create hope that honors the body and mind and to create an outlet that prevents burnout and conformity.

Artwork:
My Lover’s Eye, 2022
Paper and mixed media 18” x 18”
Schinia Volupia moth on gaillardia pulchella, 2025
Mixed media 25.5” x 17.5”

Our exhibition, Mixta Cultura, has come to a close. We would like to thank the guest curator, Souther Recio of Cactus Valley Art, for their partnership, vision, and commitment to creating opportunities for artists in our region. Mixta Cultura marks the culmination of how artists bring different experiences, perspectives, and voices into existence. Together, these artists explore themes of gender, border narratives and identity, mental health, and women’s rights. The result is a layered reflection of the issues shaping our communities past and present. Seen as a whole, the exhibition resonates with viewers, connecting personal experience with collective conversation. These artists and their work begin an open dialogue on the medley of emotional labor that goes into existing in the borderlands, to coexist with all aspects of life in the Rio Grande Valley. That spirit is reflected throughout Mixta Cultura. While each artist speaks in their own way, the work collectively tells a larger story about our region and the people who call it home.

Austin Linkinhoker, also known as SHOKKA, is a native Texan artist, currently living in the RGV. With a BFA in Design f...
09/04/2026

Austin Linkinhoker, also known as SHOKKA, is a native Texan artist, currently living in the RGV. With a BFA in Design from UT Austin (2017) SHOKKA started a business creating a multifaceted career. As a multi-disciplinary artist and printmaker whose bold colors and playful illustrations create a vibrant, otherworldly dimension. Based in Brownsville, TX, Austin hand-draws all of their work and operates their own print studio, Tree Haus Creative, where every screen print is pulled by hand. Running their own small screen printing company they make screen printed merch for small businesses and screen printed posters for events around the RGV. Spouse to artist Souther Recio, owner of Cactus Valley Art & Supply Co. has evoked a life that is one filled with art shows, events, pop-ups around Texas. SHOKKA’s work feels like a sugar rush of emotion, linework, and imagination—bridging the tactile and digital through ink, texture, and a sense of joyful chaos.

Artwork:
Bypassing, 2025
Mixed media 10” x 10”
Yellows, 2026
Mixed media 37” x 49”
Did any of this matter?, 2024
Acrylic and marker on canvas 24” x 24”

Our exhibition, Mixta Cultura, has come to a close. We would like to thank the guest curator, Souther Recio of Cactus Valley Art, for their partnership, vision, and commitment to creating opportunities for artists in our region. Mixta Cultura marks the culmination of how artists bring different experiences, perspectives, and voices into existence. Together, these artists explore themes of gender, border narratives and identity, mental health, and women’s rights. The result is a layered reflection of the issues shaping our communities past and present. Seen as a whole, the exhibition resonates with viewers, connecting personal experience with collective conversation. These artists and their work begin an open dialogue on the medley of emotional labor that goes into existing in the borderlands, to coexist with all aspects of life in the Rio Grande Valley. That spirit is reflected throughout Mixta Cultura. While each artist speaks in their own way, the work collectively tells a larger story about our region and the people who call it home.

Mich Castro is a Rio Grande Valley-based Mexican-American fiber and mixed-media artist. She is well-known in the South T...
09/04/2026

Mich Castro is a Rio Grande Valley-based Mexican-American fiber and mixed-media artist. She is well-known in the South Texas arts community for creating handcrafted goods, including jewelry, unique "ugly" crafts, and punch-needle fiber art. Mich regularly participates in local South Texas markets, such as the South End Community Market, where she sells her handmade earrings and fiber pieces. The artist has been featured alongside other local creators in gallery shows across the RGV, including the La Existencia Duele exhibition (hosted at Cactus Valley Art & Supply Co.) and the Dark Age of Modernity showcase.

Mariana is a multidisciplinary artist from Pharr, Texas. Mariana’s work is colorful, detailed, nostalgic, busy, and chaotic. She explores and expresses the ideas of self discovery, fears, chaos, and nostalgia. Most of the work is representational and varies in mediums including oils, watercolor, ink, printmaking, and textiles. Her crochet installation work is a true wonder to behold.

Artwork:
Going to Bed Used to be a Punishment, 2025
Crocheted yarn, plastic bags, found objects, beads and rhinestones 67” x 42’ x 47”
Instagram:

We would like to thank the guest curator, Souther Recio of Cactus Valley Art, for their partnership, vision, and commitment to creating opportunities for artists in our region. Mixta Cultura marks the culmination of how artists bring different experiences, perspectives, and voices into existence. Together, these artists explore themes of gender, border narratives and identity, mental health, and women’s rights. The result is a layered reflection of the issues shaping our communities past and present. Seen as a whole, the exhibition resonates with viewers, connecting personal experience with collective conversation. These artists and their work begin an open dialogue on the medley of emotional labor that goes into existing in the borderlands, to coexist with all aspects of life in the Rio Grande Valley. That spirit is reflected throughout Mixta Cultura. While each artist speaks in their own way, the work collectively tells a larger story about our region and the people who call it home.

Mariana is a multidisciplinary artist from Pharr, Texas. Mariana’s work is colorful, detailed, nostalgic, busy, and chao...
09/04/2026

Mariana is a multidisciplinary artist from Pharr, Texas. Mariana’s work is colorful, detailed, nostalgic, busy, and chaotic. She explores and expresses the ideas of self discovery, fears, chaos, and nostalgia. Most of the work is representational and varies in mediums including oils, watercolor, ink, printmaking, and textiles. Her crochet installation work is a true wonder to behold. You can find her work at www.marianucha.com or on ig .
Artwork:
I Lay Inert While I Pray with my Innards Exposed, 2025
Yarn, fabric, toys, and plastic bag

Our exhibition, Mixta Cultura, has come to a close. We would like to thank the guest curator, Souther Recio of Cactus Valley Art, for their partnership, vision, and commitment to creating opportunities for artists in our region. Mixta Cultura marks the culmination of how artists bring different experiences, perspectives, and voices into existence. Together, these artists explore themes of gender, border narratives and identity, mental health, and women’s rights. The result is a layered reflection of the issues shaping our communities past and present. Seen as a whole, the exhibition resonates with viewers, connecting personal experience with collective conversation. These artists and their work begin an open dialogue on the medley of emotional labor that goes into existing in the borderlands, to coexist with all aspects of life in the Rio Grande Valley. That spirit is reflected throughout Mixta Cultura. While each artist speaks in their own way, the work collectively tells a larger story about our region and the people who call it home.

Priscilla Carbajal is a small commercial farmer, textile artist, and chemist from Raymondville, TX. Her artistry involv...
09/04/2026

Priscilla Carbajal is a small commercial farmer, textile artist, and chemist from Raymondville, TX. Her artistry involves traditional methods of adding color to cloth, silk, leather, & textiles. Priscilla’s passion stems from the artist’s naturalist approach to growing flowers and herbs that she then uses to create textiles that are representatives of the earth’s artistic nature. Carbajal has been known to host flower dying workshops for the community to learn and to create these ancient methods of dying with botanicals. Through her act of foraging from the earth to create these alluring textiles we are reminded of the artistry that has existed since the dawn of time.

Artwork:
Sin Constrictiones, undated
Cotton textile dyed with flowers, leaves, seeds, and moth
Nature walk II, undated
Cotton textile dyed with flowers, leaves, seeds, and moth
Instagram: .txtiles

Our exhibition, Mixta Cultura, has come to a close. We would like to thank the guest curator, Souther Recio of Cactus Valley Art, for their partnership, vision, and commitment to creating opportunities for artists in our region. Mixta Cultura marks the culmination of how artists bring different experiences, perspectives, and voices into existence. Together, these artists explore themes of gender, border narratives and identity, mental health, and women’s rights. The result is a layered reflection of the issues shaping our communities past and present. Seen as a whole, the exhibition resonates with viewers, connecting personal experience with collective conversation. These artists and their work begin an open dialogue on the medley of emotional labor that goes into existing in the borderlands, to coexist with all aspects of life in the Rio Grande Valley. That spirit is reflected throughout Mixta Cultura. While each artist speaks in their own way, the work collectively tells a larger story about our region and the people who call it home.

Thank You, Familia Cultura ❤️What a beautiful way to close Ray Smith’s Before the Fall at the San Benito Cultural Herita...
08/31/2026

Thank You, Familia Cultura ❤️

What a beautiful way to close Ray Smith’s Before the Fall at the San Benito Cultural Heritage Museum.

This exhibition became so much more than the artwork on our walls. In many ways, it became an architect of connection, creating spaces for our us to come together, share ideas, celebrate, and experience our museum in new ways.

Throughout the exhibition, we welcomed our community through outreach events with the Mexican Consulate, Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce, Flünce Fashion Showcase, South Texas Cultural Summit, and our Architecture of Vulnerability panel, bringing together voices to explore the systems and landscapes that shape our lives in the Rio Grande Valley.

We also celebrated San Benito CISD students and families through academic excellence graduation banquets, honoring our young people surrounded by Ray’s work.

And we closed the exhibit with curated Soundscapes by Genesis Moreno. His soundscape brought the musical landscape of the Rio Grande Valley and beyond into the museum and added another beautiful layer to Ray’s work.

A special thank you to Mayor Pete Galvan, Commissioners Ricardo Perez and Victor Gonzalez, and City Manager Carlos Yerena for joining us and supporting the arts in San Benito. Your presence means so much as we continue building a Cultural Arts Department that brings people together and puts San Benito at the forefront of cultural life in South Texas.

And, of course, thank you, Ray Smith, for sharing your work, your story, and your connection to this region with us. Your exhibition reminded us that our roots are powerful, our stories matter, and there are no limits to what we can imagine.

Most of all, thank you to our Familia Cultura for continuing to show up, support the museum, and help us build a growing cultural community.

The exhibition may be closing, but the connections it created continue.

We bring people together.
We celebrate our stories.
We create space for possibility.

Gracias, Familia. ❤️

Address

250 E. Heywood Street
San Benito, TX
78586

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 4pm
Tuesday 10am - 4pm
Wednesday 10am - 4pm
Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 9am - 1pm

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956-281-0810

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