College of DuPage promises 'bigger and better' Frida Kahlo show after delay

In a self-portrait she painted after her spinal surgery, Frida Kahlo gave an intimate view of the chronic pain she suffered from a bus accident in 1925.

“The Broken Column” painting shows tears on the artist's stoic face, but triumph in her eyes. It's one of the works providing inspiration for Diana Martinez through the upheavals caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

“She shows strength, and she's looking forward,” Martinez said. “And I think that just symbolizes her perseverance and determination.”

Martinez has her own resolute determination working to bring a rare exhibition of Kahlo's work to the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn.

The COVID-19 crisis hit just as the director of the school's McAninch Arts Center was making final preparations for the June opening of “Frida Kahlo 2020.”

But Martinez and the school found a way to postpone the show another year, a delay that required the cooperation of two other museums, corporate sponsors and the college's board of trustees.

“'At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can,'” says Martinez, quoting the Mexican icon. “And that has driven me through many, many challenging times in the three years I've been working on this.”

The school last week pushed the exhibition — renamed “Frida Kahlo: Timeless” — to June 2021. And while it is a setback, Martinez finds the silver lining.

“We will hope to do everything that we've planned and more,” she said.

Before the stay-at-home order, the MAC's 2019-20 season had featured a Frida Kahlo Performance Series. The new schedule will now tie in with the release of “Frida: Viva la Vida,” a documentary named after the message Kahlo left on her final still life before her death at 47 in 1954.

“I think we'll keep the momentum going. There will be no question,” Martinez said.

With a $3 million expansion, the college's Cleve Carney Museum of Art will display the 26-piece exhibition on loan from Mexico's Museo Dolores Olmededo in Xochimilco.

The $450,000 fee for the rental of Kahlo's touring art will remain unchanged with the 2021 opening.

The Museo Dolores Olmededo also worked with another museum in Europe to “slide their schedule a little” and adapt to COD's time constraints, Martinez said. The college wanted to host the Kahlo exhibit — the largest in the Chicago area in more than 40 years — outside of the school year to accommodate crowds.

“It was a lot of coordinating and moving around, and they have been incredible partners in helping to make this happen,” Martinez said.

Fundraising totals dipped to $1 million after the state rescinded several tourism grants due to COVID-19, but donations have far exceeded expectations, Martinez said. Organizers already had secured commitments from sponsors that supported the move.

“We're in a really great place to pivot, pause, and different opportunities have evolved since then,” Martinez said.

The grant money would have funded a trolley from Metra stations in Wheaton and Glen Ellyn, so downtown businesses could benefit from Frida fans making the pilgrimage to COD.

“I am committed to make that happen,” Martinez said.

The college hopes the attention from the Kahlo show and the enlarged gallery space will enable it to start a new tradition every summer.

“We'll be able to have bigger, larger, international shows, which is really exciting, and that's the whole plan,” Martinez said.