On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Faculty of Fine Arts of the UABJO, The institution invited a group of people linked to its story to record a video message, which was published on the official channel of the Faculty. Among the participants were Dr.. Eduardo Bautista, rector of the Maximum House of Studies, the Mtra. Irma Yolanda Ortiz Acosta, the Master. Armando Martinez, el Dr. John Cabrera, the Master. Edwin Nazareth, the Master. Nestor Gutierrez, the Master. Fausto Mendez, the Master. Cesar Sandoval, the Master. Francisco Gomez Toledo, the Master. Abdías Cruz and the Master. Shinzaburo Takeda. I was also granted the opportunity to join in with a video message.
Mis felicitaciones para mi querida ex escuela de Bellas Artes en Oaxaca, that they are fulfilling 70 years of great artistic work. Qué recuerdos tan lindos tengo guardados en mi corazón de aquella época de estudios.
UABJO FACULTY OF FINE ARTS, November 2021
From Vienna, Austria, the Mtra. Patricia Trujano Granados – Soprano and graduate of our Faculty, send a congratulatory message for the 70 years of the Former Convent of San José as the headquarters of this institution. Thank you so much!
70 years of the Faculty of Fine Arts of the UABJO in Oaxaca
November 2021 — In the heart of the Historic Center of Oaxaca de Juárez, next to the Plaza de la Danza, A building is built that has centuries of history and decades of artistic vocation in its walls: the old Ex-convent of San José, headquarters of the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Autonomous University “Benito Juarez” from Oaxaca (FBA-UABJO). In November 2021, This institution proudly celebrated its70 years of uninterrupted work in the training of artists and promoters of Oaxacan culture.
A building with history
The old convent of San José was built by the archdeacon Don Diego de las Heras y Torres and by Captain Don Miguel de Landeta and inaugurated on 6 May 1774, originally as a hostel for Spanish Capuchin nuns. For more than a hundred years, The Capuchin mothers preserved and beautified this convent, which once housed valuable works of art, among them images that had belonged to the Jesuit Fathers, expelled by King Charles III of Spain in 1767. With the passage of time, earthquakes and abandonment reduced the building to ruins.
After being abandoned after serving as a hospice, in 1950 It was rebuilt and adapted by order of Governor Eduardo Vasconcelos to become the headquarters of the School of Fine Arts.. The transformation was formalized by the decree of the 14 July 1950, issued by the XL Legislature of the State of Oaxaca.
Seventy years training artists
Since its foundation, The Faculty of Fine Arts has been the main institution of higher artistic education in the state of Oaxaca, with the mission of training professionals in the field of art and culture who seek to preserve, strengthen and disseminate the different artistic expressions and cultural values of the state, projecting them nationally and internationally.
Throughout these seven decades, The Faculty has offered comprehensive training that covers music, the plastic arts, dance and, most recently, cultural management. Its current academic offering includes Music Instruction, the Bachelor of Music and the Bachelor of Cultural Management and Sustainable Development. Also, the artistic initiation and continuing education program opens its doors to children, young people and adults of Oaxacan society, more than 20 music workshops, dance and plastic arts.
A house that marks forever
Among the thousands of students who have crossed the portals of the Ex-Convent of San José is the sopranoPatricia Trujano Granados, native of Huajuapan de León, Oaxaca. It was in the classrooms and hallways of this Faculty where Patricia took her first formal steps in singing and music., building the foundations of a career that would later take her to the stages of Europe and Mexico.
On the occasion of the 70th anniversary, Patricia expressed her affection for her alma mater with these words:
“My congratulations to my dear former school of Fine Arts in Oaxaca, that they are fulfilling 70 years of great artistic work. What beautiful memories I have saved in my heart from that time of study.”
Oaxaca Pride
The 70th anniversary celebration was an occasion to pay tribute not only to the institution, but to all the teachers, students and graduates who have contributed to keeping the artistic tradition of Oaxaca alive. Founded more than seven decades ago, The Faculty of Fine Arts of the UABJO has an excellent reputation throughout the region and continues to be, year after year, the cradle of the artists who shine Oaxacan culture in Mexico and the world.
Cheers, Faculty of Fine Arts of the UABJO, for these 70 years of history, art and passion
