MEXICO CITY.- PhD Agustín Arteaga, the director of the Museo Nacional de Arte, has designated Alesha Mercado Besserer as the new deputy director of the museum, in substitution of Sara Gabriela Baz Sánchez, who currently directs the Museo Nacional del Virreinato de Tepotzotlán. This became effective last May 15th.

Arteaga has highlighted "the high level of professional training and leadership qualities of Alesha Mercado in museology, management, research and curatorship". He added that "her presence is essential for the development of our institution’s projects in the upcoming years."

Alesha Mercado has a Master’s degree in Curatorial Studies from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, as well as in Museology from the Centro de Arte Mexicano.

Since 2004 she has worked in the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes’ contemporary art museums, such as Sala de Arte Público Siqueiros and Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil. Since 2013 she has been associate curator of the Colección del Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC).

She also acquired significant training in the international field through the Getty Leadership Institute museum leaders program, as well as with her presentations at the American Alliance of Museums. She has coordinated programs at the Instituto de Liderazgo en Museos (ILM) from 2012 to the present, as well as at the international encounter ¿Qué hace posible al museo? / What makes a museum possible?, which gathered about fifty specialists from different countries, facilitating the dialogue exchange and encouraging the exposure of successes and challenges of different management models for national museums.

Since 1982, the Museo Nacional de Arte transmits, exposes, studies and preserves more than 3,700 pieces of Mexican art produced between the second half of the sixteenth century and 1954. In addition to spreading the knowledge and interest on its artistic and documental collection, the museum offers important educational and academic programs, as well as workshops, events, shows, and film series for all audiences.

"The Museo Nacional de Arte seeks to display a continuous dialogue and balance between the different historical periods of art and the artistic production of this moment," explains PhD Agustín Arteaga, the Director of the Museo Nacional de Arte.
Currently, the Museo Nacional de Arte is working towards a complete renovation of its permanent exhibition, and offers domestic and foreign visitors a wide range of international exhibitions.