Mago Orona Gándara
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| Born | (1929-02-08)February 8, 1929 |
| Died | February 18, 2018(2018-02-18) (aged 89)
El Paso, Texas, US
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| Nationality | American |
| Education |
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| Known for | Murals |
Margarita "Mago" Orona Gándara (February 8, 1929 – February 18, 2018) was a Chicana artist. She is known for her murals which can be seen throughout El Paso, Texas and in Ciudad Juárez.
Orona Gándara was born and raised in El Paso, Texas.[1] Her nickname, "Mago," means "magician" in Spanish.[2] She was a graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and then went on to teach art at Bowie High School.[1] In 1949, she saved $1,000 to go and study at the Art Institute of Chicago.[3] She attended the Chouinard Art Institute.[4] Orona Gándara also studied with Urbici Soler.[5] When Orona Gándara was twenty-one, she got married and had five children.[6] For many years, she followed her husband in his career, only separating after twenty-one years to pursue her own art career.[2][6]
Orona Gándara returned to El Paso in late 1971 after living in California for around twenty years.[1] She began teaching classes at the El Paso Museum of Art and opened her own art studio.[1] Orona Gándara also began teaching at the El Paso Community College (EPCC).[3] A mural project she did for EPCC became part of her master's degree from Antioch University.[3]
She also opened an art studio in Juárez with help from her daughter who lent her the money for the home and studio.[4][3] In the state of Chihuahua, Orona Gándara was considered an "art queen."[7] She also attempted to make a difference in the colonia she lived in, Colonia Libertad, using art and murals.[7][8] She left Juárez in 2011 when there was a large amount of violence in the city and when she was personally targeted by sicarios (assassins) who noticed that her truck had Texas license plates.[5][9] After leaving Mexico, she continued to create art, calling her next exhibition of paintings, Immigrant Pilgrims, her "revenge" on those who drove her out of her home in the colonia.[10]
Orona Gándara died in her home of natural causes on February 18, 2018.[11][5]
Orona Gándara is known as one of the few women creating murals in El Paso's art history.[12] Her work is a cultural mix of both Mexican and American themes and inhabits the concept of nepantla.[2] Her murals, Señor Sol and Time and Sand were created by her working alone.[12] Señor Sol has degraded over time and Orona Gándara considered it "neglected and dishonored."[10] Some of her work was influenced by Aztec themes, such as those displayed on La Avenida de los Aztecas and in the Tourist Information Center for Chamizal in Juárez.[11] Gándara's final work was a tiled sculpture at her own home in Central El Paso based on St. Francis of Assisi.[5]
