Piñatas are for celebration, and that's exactly what's happening inside Border X Brewing in Barrio Logan.
While it's a brewery first, the space has been transformed into what feels like a piñata museum.
“It holds a lot more than just visual appeal,” said artisan Jasmine Venegas. “It's a traditional value and culture that we’re able to cultivate. I think it's amazing being able to have a space that aligns with artistic values of our communities.”
The two-week-long Border X Piñata Art Fest features vendors, live music and piñata workshops for the public led by artists like Venegas.
She also has a piñata on display that honors her Mexican and indigenous roots.
“I wanted to bring the elements of Tonantzin and her current figure — most known as La Virgen of Guadalupe — as well as Santa Muerte,” Venegas said, describing her artwork. “So bringing those two factors together, how life has that duality in it and how we are able to grow from life and death.”
The event offers the community a chance to learn some history, try out piñata making for themselves and see professional pieces that stretch the imagination.
“There's definitely a couple dozen. Some are smaller, some are bigger, some are displayed in the corners,” said festival curator Andy Gonzalez. “People are going ‘that's a piñata?’”
He said all the works on display are made by artists from Tijuana, San Diego and Los Angeles. One is even made out of metal.
“We didn't want them to bring us piñatas you can find at a grocery store,” Gonzalez said. “(They’re) definitely out of the box piñatas, so they got the assignment and they did it — you can see some of them are just amazing, some of them are crazy.”
Both Gonzalez and Venegas agree that piñatas are symbols of identity and a medium to tell stories.
Brewery owner David Favela wanted to give them a space to evolve.
“If you understand the Mexican culture and the U.S. culture, you can decode the art pieces in a way where they're telling you something. And that's what all great art, at the end of the day, does — it communicates,” Favela said.
With the magic of papier-mâché, creativity and love for their heritage, artists like Venegas are looking to carry on traditions that she said would otherwise get lost.
“One of my earliest memories of a piñata would be my seventh or eighth birthday — my mom made me a snoopy piñata from scratch. It was my favorite memory,” the artisan said.
This is the first annual piñata festival and the event runs through June 9. While it's at a brewery, Gonzalez said it's still a family-friendly fiesta.
