Last September, a group of Latino leaders boarded a bus in Washington, D.C. and traveled to Virginia’s capital city of Richmond to see an exhibition of perhaps the most iconic and influential Latina artist in history. 

When one thinks of the world’s art capitals, cities like New York, Paris, and London spring to mind. But Richmond is carving out its own identity as an essential destination for blockbuster art exhibitions. This ambition was spectacularly realized when Frida: Beyond the Myth arrived at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA). It not only shattered attendance records but also offered a profound and intimate look at the woman as well as the artist and her work.

The trip to Richmond was hosted by The Latino Coalition, a leading advocacy group for U.S. Hispanic businesses, together with Altria, the exhibition’s sponsor.

"The Latino Coalition was proud to partner with Altria in bringing together almost two dozen Latino leaders from Washington, D.C. in Richmond to experience the Frida Kahlo exhibit, while strengthening friendships and learning from each other,” said Carlos Orta, the non-profit’s President and CEO.

For Dr. Sarah Powers, the exhibition’s curator at VMFA, it was a longtime dream. “We wanted to bring a Frida Kahlo exhibition to Richmond,” she explained. “I first traveled to Mexico City in 2019, right before COVID, to start making some connections.”

The dream became reality through a partnership with the Dallas Museum of Art in 2024. It had already organized a remarkable exhibition curated by Agustín Arteaga and Sue Canterbury, having navigated the immense challenge of securing works of art they could borrow. “We were very fortunate that they had already secured the loans from mostly private collections,” Powers said. “Works by Frida Kahlo are considered national treasures by the Mexican government. So they needed special permission from the Ministry of Culture. We were very grateful to be able to partner with them.”

This partnership provided VMFA with a golden opportunity. The Dallas Museum had hosted the exhibition the previous summer, allowing Powers and her team to study its presentation. “We were able to see how they installed their exhibition. And we were very fortunate in that we had a lot more space to devote to the exhibition,” Powers noted.

This abundance of space became a canvas for VMFA’s creative vision. “We were really able to amplify that original exhibition through some very creative design that alluded to the influence of the Casa Azul on Frida Kahlo,” said Powers. Kahlo’s home in Mexico City (later converted into a museum) served as an inspiration. Doorways and window-like elements framed Kahlo’s work within the context of the environment that so deeply shaped her.

 “We had the luxury of about six to eight months of design planning that allowed us to do some rather creative things,” Powers said. The museum wove in multimedia elements that brought Kahlo’s world to life. “And we included projections of Frida Kahlo movies and archival footage as well.”

The heart of Frida: Beyond the Myth was its unparalleled collection of over 60 works spanning from 1926 to 1954. These included Kahlo’s most famous self-portraits and deeply personal drawings. But with a significant number of works drawn from private collections, the exhibition offered visitors a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“That really is the appeal of an exhibition where so many of the loans are actually from private collections,” Powers emphasized. “There were certainly works that were very generous loans from other museums. Specifically, the Phoenix Art Museum lent the Suicide of Dorothy Hale, which was one of the most beautiful, and I think, one of the most ambitious paintings in the exhibition.” 

The exhibition’s central mission was to move beyond the commodified image of Frida Kahlo and delve into the complex, vulnerable, and brilliant person beneath. “It focused on her biography but also allowed us to show more personal moments,” Powers explained. “And that what both the Dallas Museum and the VMFA were trying to present to the public was this opportunity to see person behind the cultural icon.”

Powers approached the curatorial challenge with a sense of rhythm. “The way I love to see an exhibition is to have a real showstopper in each section of the exhibition, and highlight that throughout the design,” she shared. “Thanks to our incredible design team, we were really able to bring the visitors on a journey through the different eras of Frida's life.”

That journey necessarily began with the pivotal trauma that transformed Kahlo from a medical student into an artist---the catastrophic trolley accident on September 17, 1925, which left her with lifelong injuries and pain. “The accident made her into the artist that we know today,” said Powers.
It was Kahlo herself who famously delineated the two great accidents of her life: the streetcar and her husband, the muralist Diego Rivera. “Diego was by far the worst," she once said. The exhibition explored this dynamic deeply, featuring rarely seen home movies of the couple that provided a flickering, moving portrait of their passionate and painful bond. Its narrative strength was in its refusal to shy away from this complexity. This was achieved not only through her paintings but also through a stunning collection of photographs taken by those closest to her, including luminaries like Lola Álvarez Bravo, Imogen Cunningham, Julien Levy, Dora Maar, and Nickolas Muray. These images showed Kahlo in unguarded moments, adding another layer to the understanding of the persona she so carefully crafted. 

“As much as she belongs to the world, she belongs to you,” Powers told the gathering of Latino leaders at the museum. “This exhibit celebrates the cultural icon she’s become. Her greatest work of art was the iconic persona she created. This exhibit separates that from who she really was.” 
Altria, headquartered in Richmond, is also a major sponsor of the VMFA and the exhibition was displayed in a section of museum called the Altria Group Gallery. 

“Altria proudly supported the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in presenting Frida: Beyond the Myth. Kahlo’s work transcends borders and generations, celebrating the resilience and creativity of the Latino community. By sponsoring this exhibition, we honored one of the world’s most iconic artists while fostering dialogue and inspiration,” said Angela Arboleda, senior director of federal government affairs for Altria. “Partnering with The Latino Coalition, we also brought together a diverse group of Latino leaders from the nation’s capital and Richmond to experience the extraordinary exhibit and build genuine connections.”

The public’s reaction was nothing short of phenomenal. To visitors, Frida: Beyond the Myth was more than a collection of beautiful paintings. It was a carefully crafted experience that reminded visitors that before Frida was a poster on a dorm room wall, she was a woman of immense strength, vulnerability, and talent who painted her reality with unflinching honesty. By offering a tour through the doorways of the Casa Azul and into the private corners of her life and art, the VMFA did not diminish the icon. It gave the world a more profound, more human, and ultimately more magnificent reason to remember her.

The exhibition kicked off in April 2025 with a massive community celebration named FridaFest. The energy was palpable. “We must have had over 10,000 people on the grounds that day and close to 9,000 people through the exhibit on that one day,” Powers said. The entire exhibition was offered in both English and Spanish, from the wall text to the audio guides, ensuring that Frida Kahlo’s story was accessible to the broadest possible audience. “It was just wonderful to see the variety of people of all ages, from all different segments of the community, just engaging with the work. I heard lots of different languages and different conversations. People were just kind of thrilled with getting this experience.”

By the time the exhibition closed in late September, it had welcomed over 166,000 visitors, securing its place as the third-highest attended exhibition in the history of the VMFA. This staggering number speaks not only to Kahlo’s powerful draw but also to Richmond’s growing stature as a cultural destination.

“We want people to know the caliber of exhibits we bring to Richmond and it’s really showing in our attendance and the impact it’s having and also expanding our audience,” Powers asserted. “People came from all over to see the exhibit, and we were delighted.”