Branigan Cultural Center, 501 N. Main St., is excited to announce a new exhibit titled "Tlazoh Amoxochitl: Florecimiento del Conocimiento Precioso: Flowering of Precious Knowledge."

The exhibit features artwork that investigates pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican cultural traditions painted by kindergarten to fifth grade students at the Raices del Saber Xinachtli Community School in Las Cruces.

The exhibit opens Friday, May 3, 2024, and runs through Saturday, June 22, 2024.

There is an opening reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, May 3. Students and teachers from the Raices del Saber Xinachtli Community School will be in attendance. An Aztec dancing group will perform during the reception.

This engaging exhibit presents 43 paintings that represent the young students' interpretations of pre-Hispanic stories and legends of Mesoamerica. Drawing from oral traditions, the students were exposed to stories in school about how corn was created, how a girl and a monster produced the cacao tree, and the symbolism of death and resurrection found in the change of caterpillars to butterflies.

From these stories, the kindergarten to fifth grade students created a wide range of artwork. Objects that are used to process corn and cacao beans are part of the exhibition.

The Raices del Saber Xinachtli Community School, 2211 N. Valley Drive, offers a multicultural and bilingual curriculum that infuses indigenous Mesoamerican teachings and traditions in a child-centered dynamic. The artwork presented in the exhibit was created in an after-school program that was taught by teacher Diana Ginez during the spring 2024 semester.

Branigan Cultural Center is open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday. There is no admission charge. The museum is accessible from RoadRUNNER Transit Route 1, Stop 1.

For information, visit the Museums System website at www.lascruces.gov/museums or call (575) 541-2154.

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