about
The “Gráfica Siqueiros” engraving workshop was born in 2017, inside the Santa María de Ixcotel prison in Oaxaca de Juarez.
Created by César Chávez and Jason Pfolhl, the project was named after to the famous Mexican artist David Alfaro Siqueiros, a communist political activist, imprisoned in 1962 to serve an eight-year sentence. They accused him of having organized student demonstrations, which turned into riots, sowing chaos in the capital for several days.
Grafica Siqueiros is now operating with workshops in 4 different jails around Oaxaca city, giving the incarcerated women, men and teenagers an opportunity to meet artists and learn differents technics of printmaking, painting, stencil, cinema, art therapy, etc. meeting different artists from all over the world teaching them inside the prison.
Margaux Guiheneuc, owner of Vamos o que? tours is supporting Grafica Siqueiros project by exhibiting their art in her gallery « A Ver Arte Galerie » located in the center of the town. Since 2021 she has been connecting tourists of her own “City Art Tour” with the artists of two different jails of Oaxaca by exhibiting their woodblock prints and handicrafts as well as organizing exhibitions both in Oaxaca, Mexico and in France.
mission
Grafica Siqueiros is an art program for men, women, and teenagers that are incarcerated near Oaxaca City. The art workshops create opportunities to meet artists and learn different techniques of art such as; drawing, printmaking, painting, stencil, cinema, etc.
vision
This charity based workshop allows those incarcerated to connect with their creativity, learn different skills, make an income from their talents and create community all over the world. Grafica Siqueiros now operates in 4 different prisons around Oaxaca City!
"I was motivated by the wish of going out through this big door without anything detaining me. Here is the ability to go back to a different image, different walls, different doors, different paths, a different life. Through my art I am free in my thoughts, my soul, my wishes...imprisoned but not completely because I am here outside present through my art. Walls, doors and facades represent dreams, visions, hopes, freedom."
- Oscar
"I am motivated as an artist by the power of unity between people, that regardless of circumstances, we are all human beings. To those who view this art: open a window to the opportunity to get to know each other and see that in each engraving dwells our humanity."