Hello, this is Jackie talking about my day at MOLAA, the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach.  I went on Sunday because it was free to see the Frida Kahlo exhibit of her personal collection of photographs.  I went sort of late so there was a huge line outside and a staff assistant told me I wouldn’t be able to get in. So I went inside the museum to see what else they had.  As I was picking up a bunch of pamphlets I saw a line going in towards the museum so I followed them in.  I guess I sort of snuck in but not on purpose, I found out later you weren’t supposed to go in there because they all had stickers and there was a sign stating members only. 

Frida was born as Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo Calderon on July 6^th 1907 in Mexico City, Mexico.  On September 25^th 1925, at the age of 18, she was in a trolley accident and broke 2 ribs, dislocated her left shoulder, crushed her right foot, broke her collarbone, and her spinal cord and pelvis broke in 3 places. 

 She spent most of her life recovering stuck in bed with a plaster cast having more than 30 operations.  She started off by painting on her cast and eventually filled it up and began painting on canvases in bed.  Her mother had a special easel made for her to paint while she was recovering.  She began taking painting seriously experimenting with watercolor and oil paints.

She died on July 13, 1954 a week after she turned 47 and 29 years after she was in the accident. 

Getting to see her personal collection of photographs allowed me to look into her life and see how it influenced her and her art.  She promoted Mexican culture using a mix of surrealism, symbolism and realism.  She also participated in political rallies and traveled promoting her art.