Courtesy of Marushka Media

SAN BENITO, TX — Musical trailblazer Freddy Fender — the stage name of Mexican-American icon Baldemar Huerta — will be celebrated in a new exhibition in San Benito, Texas. The exhibition is set for a special unveiling at the 5,000-square-foot San Benito Cultural Heritage Museum on September 26, 2024. The exhibit — Freddy Fender: Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Baldemar Huerta — is curated by an archivist/ historian working with the Freddy Fender Estate alongside the San Benito Cultural Heritage Museum Director. It is the first exhibition sanctioned by the estate and will showcase the richness of Fender’s influence on pop, Tejano, country, and rock music around the world.

This exhibition features memorabilia from his musical genres like rock and roll (“El Bebop Kid”) to country music acclaim (“Freddy Fender”) and work on film. This one-of-a-kind exhibit in partnership with the Freddy Fender Estate, the San Benito Cultural Heritage Museum, and archivist Veronique Medrano is set to show the full breadth of Fender’s impact from his small hometown of San Benito to Nashville and beyond. This exhibition kicks off the 50th anniversary of the recording of the album Before The Next Teardrop Falls.

Evangeline Huerta, Fender’s widow, says: ”It’s been such an emotional but celebratory process over these years. He did so much for music, but also for everyone around him. On top of that, he endured so much in terms of what it took to become the first Mexican American artist to break through across so many genres. I can’t say enough about how these artifacts of Freddy’s career have been cataloged, researched, and cared for– even going as far as to have so many missing artifacts returned to us, that his fans will now get to enjoy.”

His daughter, Marla Huerta adds, “Dad was an icon and I’m thankful that we as a family can launch this one-of-a-kind exhibit here, in the town he loved! It has meant the world to us that Dad is being honored in such a thorough yet heartfelt way.”

Veronique Medrano, responsible for a movement to recognize Huerta’s work and impact as the first Mexican American artist, songwriter, actor, and influencer across genres, says, “It’s nothing short of an honor to be partnered with Freddy Fender’s Estate and have, for the first time ever, their blessing on this exhibit. We know the importance of getting this right for them, to preserve his legacy and share the decades of impact surrounding the man people know as Freddy Fender.”

“Freddy Fender: Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Baldemar Huerta is a multifaceted exhibition that brings together a remarkable collection of objects on loan from the Freddy Fender Estate thanks to Evangelina Huerta,” said co-curator and San Benito Cultural Heritage Museum Director Aleida García. “This exhibition runs from September 26 through November 9, 2024, and is a collaborative effort that pays tribute to our hometown hero, Baldemar Huerta. As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Before The Next Teardrop Falls, we honor his lasting impact and legacy that continues to inspire many. A heartfelt thank you to Evangelina Huerta and the Freddy Fender Estate for allowing us to showcase the incredible talent of Baldemar Huerta.”

The public unveiling of this treasured and culturally significant exhibit will be preceded by private screenings for family, friends, artistic collaborators, and international and local press.

For more information please visit: cityofsanbenito.com/249/Cultural-Arts-Department.

The opening reception for Freddy Fender: Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Baldemar Huerta is on Thursday, September 26, 2024, from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm at the San Benito Cultural Heritage Museum located at 250 E. Heywood, San Benito, TX 78586. The event is free and open to the public. The museum is open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.. Fridays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Guided tours and in-person access are available until the exhibit closes on November 9, 2024. Virtual programming, such as video presentations, interviews, and virtual tours, will be available through the museum’s social media platforms.

About Freddy Fender:

Baldemar Huerta – also known as El Bebop Kid, Eddie con Los Shades, and most famously known as Freddy Fender – began his career in 1957 with “No Seas Cruel,” the Spanish version of “Don’t Be Cruel,” whose English version was originally made famous by Elvis Presley in 1956. Fender’s inaugural recording was released by Falcon Records, under his given name, Baldemar Huerta.

Fender was a pioneer becoming the first Mexican-American “triple threat” with success as a songwriter, recording artist, and actor for film and television. Fender was also the first and remains the only Mexican-American recording artist to see success across Blues, Country, and Rock ‘n’ Roll charts.

A man of his word, he made history by recording and writing an album while serving time in prison, thereby fulfilling his recording contract with Gusto Records. Fender served two and a half years of a five-year sentence for possession of marijuana and was released following a successful petition for release granted by Louisiana Governor Jimmie Davis. (Davis was the Country Music Hall of Fame inducted singer/songwriter of hit songs “You Are My Sunshine” and ”Nobody’s Darling But Mine” and had great respect for Fender.)

Freddy Fender passed away on October 14, 2006, after a long battle with lung cancer. At the time of his death, he had amassed two RIAA Gold Certifications, three GRAMMY Awards, a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, an ACM Award for Most Promising Male Vocalist, and he saw more than 20 placements on multiple Billboard and Cashbox charts.

In 2025 Fender’s legacy will celebrate another milestone with the 50th anniversary of the release of Before The Next Teardrop Falls (April 26, 1975, ABC DOT Records), and his winning a CMA Award for “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” in the Single of the Year category in 1975.

Freddy Fender’s legacy will be celebrated at the San Benito Cultural Heritage Museum with the first-ever estate-endorsed exhibit featuring nearly 5000 square feet of never-before-seen artifacts. The exhibit opens on September 26.

For more information and tickets to this exhibit, please visit cityofsanbenito.com/249/Cultural-Arts-Department.

About Veronique Medrano: Archivist, and Historian:

Veronique Medrano, the Rio Grande Valley resident and UNT alumni, brings her Mexican American heritage to her colorful bi-lingual Country/Americana/Tejano songwriting and performances; as well as her archiving and historian work, resulting in the curation of music and historical exhibits. Medrano reflects the work ethic and pitch-perfect passion shown in the attainment of her Master’s Degree in Information Sciences from UNT that has been put to use in the past 10 years within music through three self-produced albums and two EPs (since 2017), yielding glowing reviews from Billboard Magazine, Grammy.com, Nashville Scene, and Texas Monthly. Medrano — who explores life and creative living on her “Accordion 2 Me” podcast — was deemed one of a handful of breakthrough Spanish language artists in 2022 and dubbed”not only a talented musician but also a scholar in Archives and Preservation” by Remezcla, which praised Medrano for blending her multicultural life experiences into her music and continuing “to celebrate her Mexican American heritage through her art and make an impact in the country music scene.”

Medrano seamlessly presents this expertise within the music industry, applying it through editorial and working on programs like: Women of Tejano: Past, Present and Future (2016), Conjunto in my Backyard (2023), and the upcoming exhibit in partnership with the estate Freddy Fender Hall of Fame Induction and Celebration of Legacy (2022).

Through editorial and working alongside museums, Medrano’s efforts celebrate the impact of Mexican and Latino(e) in music and the arts. By helping communities archive and preserve these contributions she is creating space for the future by preserving and uplifting the past victories and accomplishments within museums, archives, and historical institutions.

About Aleida García:

Rio Grande Valley resident and University of Texas-Pan American alumna, Aleida García has dedicated over twenty years of her creative and professional career to the development of various cultural pillars that honor a borderlands existence.

This work currently culminates in the commitment that García, as Director, has demonstrated in fully realizing the San Benito Cultural Arts Department (CAD) and the San Benito Cultural Heritage Museum’s (CHM) mission to promote a cultural district that fosters local cultural development. However, she has a seasoned history of successful projects, such as: playing a key role in the opening of Sala Arte, among one of the first contemporary art galleries in the RGV; serving on the board of the Narciso Martinez Cultural Arts Center; the Program Coordinator for the Brownsville Heritage Complex; an eight-year tenure as Registrar at the International Museum of Art & Science; a six-year stint as the Collections Manager for the permanent art collection at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley; and serving as Director and Curator of Titan Studio and Exhibit Space. Each of these roles demonstrates García’s steadfastness in cultivating spaces that welcome and encourage regional artists to create, explore, and experiment, and the community to engage with culturally rich programming.

These ideals are clear in the artists the San Benito CHM has highlighted both through solo exhibitions by Javier Dragustivovis – Al Otro Lado, Jesus Burciaga – Aqui Descansaba, and Veronica Jaeger- Nova Aurora and community exhibitions like Arte de la Casa and Residency, Habitar Tierras Fronterizas, and Conjunto in My Backyard. With shows like the annual Castilian Roses in December, the San Benito CAD and CHM expand the conventional understanding of the arts to include the voices of not just the RGV but any who experience the diaspora of the borderlands.

In this way, García is developing a Cultural Arts Department and Cultural Heritage Museum that places San Benito as a cultural nexus ready to take a pivotal role in bridging the arts communities of the Rio Grande Valley.

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