By Kira Taniguchi

Casa Herrera

In 2005, an uninhabited, 300-year-old house situated on a quarter of a block in Antigua, Guatemala stood in a state of disrepair. Four years later, the completely restored building has become an environment rich with opportunities for students, faculty and staff at the University of Texas, as well as other scholars around the globe.

Located one block from the center of Antigua, the colonial house has 26 rooms, which include a lecture hall, dormitories, digital workspaces, teaching spaces, offices and a full kitchen. Casa Herrera is one of five houses included in the original layout of the city.

The restored Casa Herrera opened its doors June 1, 2009, marking the first permanent UT footprint in another country and opening up a world of possibilities for Mayan and Mesoamerican scholars. The Scholars in Residence program at Casa Herrera enables students to reside at the house for as many as three months and pursue their studies in an authentic Mesoamerican environment. The program is the only one sponsored in the U.S., and is operated by the Department of Art and Art History along with Fundación Pantaleón. Two UT students are currently participating in the program.

“It is the first center outside of the U.S. in a key place like Antigua for Mesoamerican studies,” said Paola Bueche, senior program coordinator. “It puts us [the University] in a different league.”

Casa Herrera’s aim is to facilitate academic programming, symposia, lectures, workshops and classes, said the department’s Assistant Director of External Affairs Carolyn Porter.

Casa Herrera

“For the first time, scholars, students and interested members of the world can come together in a non-governmental, politically neutral environment to really delve into and discuss the questions that are shaping the field of ancient Mesoamerica studies today,” Porter said.

The University first became involved with Casa Herrera in 2005, when David Stuart, director of the Mesoamerica Center, heard about the house through Barbara Arroyo, a classmate he knew from graduate school and president of the board of directors of Fundación Pantaleón.

“He was able to translate his ideas for the activities of the space to her, and she was able to verbally give him a description of the property,” Porter said. “In 2005, he was able to view the property.”

When UT first became involved, Casa Herrera sat abandoned. “The casa itself as a house had not been prioritized by the Fundación, so it was in a state of extreme disrepair,” Porter said. “So our conversation allowed the foundation to initiate a complete renovation.”

The entire city of Antigua is designated as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) world heritage site. The city also has the largest concentration of Spanish and traditional Mayan language schools in all of Mesoamerica, Porter said.

Because Antigua is a world heritage site, the entire restoration project for Casa Herrera had to be negotiated and approved by UNESCO. Additionally, there is a historical commission in Antigua that works in conjunction with the restoration, which means that the entire process can often take decades.

“This was done efficiently and quickly, and it’s a testament to the Fundación Pantaleón that we were able to negotiate all of the contracts and finish the construction and move into the house so quickly,” Porter said.

The first records of the house date back to 1680. The original function of Casa Herrera was as a personal residence. In the 1800s, it functioned as both a house and a receiving spot for sugar cane that was traveling from the Pacific coast of Guatemala to the capital, Porter said.

Artifacts that remain in the house include several old sugar cane barrels, presses and a number of different apparatuses that were used in the production of sugar. Among the largest remnants of the original house is a sugar cane drying oven in the floor that spans the length of an entire room. It has been preserved in its original form.

Original parts of the house have been left as a result of strict construction codes in Antigua, which require restoration, not renovation. Architectural historians, engineers, architects and painting conservators worked together to restore the history of the house.

“It was really treated much more like a work of art to be conserved versus just a tear down or domestic renovation,” Porter said.

All of the artifacts remain under the ownership of Fundación Pantaleón, which has two rooms inside the house to display the items. Casa Herrera does not currently function as a museum, but Porter said there are plans to establish an exhibition space.

Casa Herrera

Milady Casco, who is a graduate student of the art education program at UT, has been studying at Casa Herrera since Sept. 1. In the summer of 2008, she conducted a case study at the Museum of Modern Art in El Salvador analyzing how the museum’s art education programming is contributing to notions of cultural identity and arts preservation in San Salvador. Her work at Casa Herrera is a continuation of her thesis investigation and writing.

“I find it inspiring to be immersed in Guatemalan culture and have the opportunity to actively experience cultural practice and, most importantly, the community,” Casco said. “Since being here, I have been inspired to pursue other academic investigations as a result of my interactions with Guatemalan archaeologists and anthropologists.”

Casa Herrera will also be the first off-site campus library for the University. It will have a collection of Mesoamerican art and Mayan studies books, and will be linked to the UT system libraries.

Casa Herrera will host the 34th annual Maya Meetings, a chance for scholars of Mayan studies to attend a series of workshops and lectures, in 2010. It will mark the first time the meetings will be held in Antigua. Porter said there are also plans to have a Maymester available for UT students and faculty.

“Because it is located in the center of Mayan studies and Mesoamerican studies, geographically, the location just couldn’t be any better,” Bueche said. “Being the first center outside the United States, it allows other people working in the field to come to this space and collaborate with our academics and our students.”