Chairs bloom into art and hope: The San Diego Museum of Art and the Magnolias Foundation made history.

San Diego, CA – August 2025.

Last Saturday, August 30, the Magnolias Foundation and the San Diego Museum of Art together wrote a luminous page in the history of the Latino community: the “Paint a Chair for Casa Magnolias” event.

In two colorful and emotional sessions, 48 chairs that had been part of the Museum's cultural life for years were transformed into pieces of hope, ready to inhabit Casa Magnolias , the future space for Latinas undergoing change.

For Edith Fuentes, Magnolias' executive director , the event was deeply symbolic: “Receiving these chairs from the Museum of Art has immense symbolic value. Since our beginnings, we have sought to bring culture, literature, and the arts to Hispanic families in San Diego. These chairs represent bringing a piece of the Museum's beauty and inspiration to what will become Casa Magnolias. So many people have created and dreamed within them, and now it's our turn to give them new life to continue building and strengthening a vibrant community.”

Janette Delgadillo, Edith Fuentes & Aideé Martínez

The experience was led by visual artist Janette Delgadillo, who shared: “Transmitting art as a tool for collective encounter and growth is deeply rewarding. I am grateful to Magnolias for opening this space where colors become bridges.”

The emotion was also reflected in every brushstroke of the participants. Hilda Jerez said: "Here we are, with great pleasure, safeguarding these beautiful chairs until the time comes to deliver them to Casa Magnolias."

Susana Licea summed it up with gratitude: "What a privilege to be part of Casa Magnolias' history! Thank you for such beautiful moments." Dreide, a representative of the San Diego Museum of Art , highlighted the union achieved:

“Since we began this collaboration, we've felt that Magnolias is part of the Museum, and the Museum is part of Magnolias. Seeing these chairs take on new life thanks to the community is wonderful; that's how community is built: creating beautiful things together.”

With this event, Magnolias reaffirmed its vision of culture: "everything that enriches us, shapes us, and gives us tools to better understand the world, helping us grow."

Thus, step by step, chair by chair, story by story, Casa Magnolias blossoms with the hands, colors, and hearts of an entire community that dreams and creates together.