SAN DIEGO, CALIF.- On October 28, 2022, Mingei International Museum opened PIÑATAS: THE HIGH ART OF CELEBRATION, one of the first-ever exhibitions to spotlight piñatas as a traditional craft and vibrant contemporary art form. This groundbreaking show includes more than 80 works made by Latinx artists and makers from across the U.S. Work by traditional piñateros will be featured alongside the creations of artists who reinvent and reinterpret the piñata to form a burgeoning, expressive medium. This exhibition is guest curated by Emily Zaiden, Curator of the Craft in America Center, and is a reimagining of an exhibition featured at the Craft in America gallery in 2021.

Exhibition Details
Works in this exhibition will explore how piñatas are designed, constructed and executed, along with the role they play in modern material culture and in artistic practices. Piñatas of all shapes and sizes will be on view reflecting culture, politics, identity and daily life. The exhibition features work from fourteen artists as well as collaborative works between the artists and their communities and studios. A selection of artists include:

Artist Justin Favela is known internationally for his large-scale installations and sculptures expressing his interactions with American pop culture and the Latinx experience. Favela is creating a lifesize piñata car inspired by San Diego lowrider legends specifically for the museum and this exhibition.

Third-generation piñata maker and founder of La Piñata Design Studio in Los Angeles, Yesenia Prieto seeks to elevate appreciation for the creativity and artistry of piñatas by making them contemporary, grand-scale, and elaborate. Inspired by her family’s work, Prieto’s studio is reinventing traditional piñata making through their custom piñatas, sculptures, masks and installations.




Diana Benavidez, a local binational artist, explores piñata-making as a method of expression and storytelling. Her piñatas reflect her experiences growing up along the San Diego/Tijuana border, as well as her identity and culture. She views piñatas as a medium of resistance and taps their humorous potential to convey powerful critiques of governmental and institutional policies and to address women’s issues and the mistreatment of Latinx communities across the U.S. 

Exploring the beauty of the mundane and ordinary, piñata artist and painter Francisco Palomares takes his piñatas out of context to make them worthy of a more thoughtful look. He frequently depicts piñatas in his painting playing on art historical narratives and present-day social challenges.

Guest curator Emily Zaiden from the Craft in America Center shares, “The contemporary artists featured in this exhibition reconsider the techniques, materials, function, tradition, and notion of the piñata, forming a new language of imagined possibilities.”

“This exhibition expands our understanding of piñatas and art,” says Jessica Hanson York, Mingei International Museum Executive Director & CEO. “The works in PIÑATAS address current events and political issues with meticulous craftsmanship and creative design, a concept at the core of Mingei’s mission.”

Participating Artists
Diana Benavidez, Roberto Benavidez, Sita Bhaumik (Estamos Contra el Muro), Mari Carson, Amorette Crespo, Justin Favela, Lisbeth Palacios, Francisco Palomares, Yesenia Prieto, Josue Ramirez, Lorena Robletto, Isaias Rodriguez, Ana Serrano, Giovanni Valderas, Pinata Design Studio and Piñata District