For decades, the National Museum of Mexican Art’s performance space has hosted leaders, artists, writers and performers from across Latin America and the Chicago area, with its programming only growing. But museum officials say the venue is unfit for the wide range of community gatherings they put on and is due for a makeover.
Recently, the Bayless Family Foundation made a $1 million donation to help fund the museum’s $5 million West Wing renovation, transforming the makeshift event space into a professional theater.
The revitalized venue will be renamed the Foro de Artes Bayless, a nod to the Mexican tradition of dynamic performance spaces known as foros, where communities gather not just to watch but to connect.
Rick Bayless, the James Beard Award-winning chef whose family foundation made the gift, said the project fills a glaring gap in Chicago’s cultural landscape.
“One of the things that we are really lacking here is a good Latino performance space done in a really solidly professional way,” Bayless said. “We’ve come to something that I think is just spectacular, and I’m really, really proud to be part of this project because I think it will bring something both needed and unique to Chicago.”
Bayless described the current space as more like a cafeteria. There is no sound or light booth. All of the chairs are on the same level. Performers have no backstage access and have historically changed clothes in bathrooms or the break room.
For José Ochoa, president and CEO of the museum, the renovation is about more than better lighting or new seats.
“One of the challenges for organizations of color is that places like this become a privilege, when for everyone else they’re a right,” Ochoa said. “People should walk in and feel, ‘Oh, this is nice. And I deserve to be here.'”
The total revamp costs about $5 million, though the museum still needs another $2 million to $3 million to complete the project. Planning for the renovation began around 2021, with Bayless contributing to the design, and construction on phase one started in September 2025.
So far, two new green rooms have been built, with mirrors, lighting, private bathrooms, a shower and acoustical paneling. For the first time, artists have a dedicated backstage area with a direct path to the stage.
Barbara Engelskirchen, the museum’s chief development officer, said the new green rooms have already changed how staff think about local youth programming. For instance, young folklore dance groups used to prepare in a cramped room, but now they will have a proper space to get ready.
“This may be a kid’s first experience with a professional green room,” she said. “Who knows? In the future, they may become famous dancers, famous singers, and be inspired by their experience here at the museum.”
Crews are now working on phase two, which includes the main performance area. Once demolition is complete, the stage will be on the opposite side of the room from its current location. A hydraulic liftwill be installed so the stage can rise for theatrical performances or lower to floor level for community events. At the push of a button, the room can change from a theater into a ballroom.
New retractable stadium-style seating will be added. Ochoa said the raised rows will improve sightlines, especially for young kids, and include space for wheelchairs. The museum is also incorporating LED lighting, cinema-grade projection and modern sound equipment.
“When professionals from Mexico come, they’re often taking a step backward because our stuff isn’t LED,” Ochoa said. “Now we’ll meet them where they are.”
Officials expect construction to be completed in early winter 2028. The museum will pause work on the West Wing for its 40th anniversary celebrations in March 2027 before finishing the remaining upgrades.
While the Bayless family’s donation comes at a time when the museum nearly had to halt its renovation due to a lack of funding, their relationship with the institution has been longstanding. The museum and the Baylesses’ first restaurant, Frontera Grill, both opened in March 1987, one week apart. Rick Bayless has served on the museum’s board of trustees, and he and his wife, Deann Bayless, received the Sandra Cisneros Award at the museum’s Gala de Arte in 2025.
“We’ve been in lockstep all these years about promoting Mexican culture,” Bayless said. “To be part of that is a really great honor.”
But for the Pilsen community, Ochoa and Bayless said the renovation means something deeper. Most professional theaters are located downtown, where productions that grapple with issues important to locals, like immigration and Latino culture, appear less frequently. Bayless said that changes when theater moves into neighborhoods.
“If you get families that come to a production and they see people that are like them on the stage, suddenly it becomes more real to them,” Bayless said. “It might actually encourage, especially the younger generation, to understand how powerful theater can be. But if you never see theater, you never know that.”
The museum has long been a gathering place for local families, senior citizens, young people and residents from across Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. It hosts a wide range of events, from Lucha Libre wrestling matches and community dance nights to Selena drag shows. Some of its more high-profile Mexican guests have included Grammy-winning singers Lila Downs and Silvana Estrada, ranchera singer Lola Beltrán and journalist Elena Poniatowska.
“We can host the biggest names in the world,” Ochoa said. “But the next day, it has to be a community event. We cannot lose sight of who we are.”
The museum does not charge admission, and Ochoa said 75% of performing arts programming will remain free. Ticketed events will still be accessible, typically charging $5 to $10.
“The National Museum of Mexican Art is like a lighthouse that calls people home,” Ochoa said. “Each and every one of us who are Latino or Mexican, Mexican American, we have a story and this new space is for us all.”
If you go
National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 W. 19th St., 312-738-1503, nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org
