Lily Garafulic, sculptress, scholar, feminist and pioneer, spent a bulk of her earthly existence creating stunning works of art, utilizing marble, wood, terracotta, bronze, paper and mixed textiles. "Lily Garafulic: Centenary Celebration," a traveling exhibit, features both important and recently discovered work from the artist, and is presently stationed in New York City, where art-lovers can reacquaint themselves with Garafulic's vivid life and unfailing legacy. 

An actualized promise made to Garafulic, the exhibition has been erected in Chile, the U.S. and Croatia, and it has brought forth some of the 350 works discovered after her death in March 2012 at age 97.  Portraits, plates, water colors and drawings were found and used as the centerpiece for celebratory events in all three countries.

"The purpose of this exhibit is so that people can get to know Lily again, and realize that Lily was a woman who dedicated more than 78 years of her life to her craft. We want people to known her as not only an artist, but as a person," Gloria Garafulich-Grabois, niece to Garafulic and director of the Gabriela Mistral Foundation, told Latin Post. "In a way, we have brought Lily back to the United States, where she was as a young 30-year-old artist. She felt very close to this country all of her life ... it's a country that made a mark on her, which she passed on to many future generations of artists."

"Lily Garafulic: In Her Own Words," a new documentary that shares the experiences of Garafulic in her own conversational telling, is also a fixed part of the traveling series. Directed by Garafulich-Grabois, the film allows the artist to publicly unveil little-known details of her life and share insights into the lives of jet-setting, art-motivated individuals.

Born May 14, 1914 to Croatian parents in Antofagasta, Chile, Garafulic was the youngest of nine, and had an early appreciation for art. Though it was considered subversive and her parents disapproved, she pursued drawing, painting, creating dimensions, focusing on forms and perspectives, and later printmaking. In her documentary, Garafulic confessed that "there was risk, but at the time, it was a success." 

For five years of Garafulic's life, she transformed rotted, unusable materials, giving them a new existence. However, white marble was her preferred medium due it's purity and softness. Acknowledgement that materials "deceive you sometimes" encouraged her to continue to manipulate fragmented materials to create dynamic pieces, including the black marble figure used at the base of a Nobel Prize of Literature belonging to the legendary Gabriela Mistral, the first Latina to be granted such an honor. 

"[Garafulic] was an artist, teacher and feminist in the best sense of the of the word ... a pioneer who opened doors for many artists, especially women. She was a woman of firsts: she was the first to ever hold a solo exhibit in Chile, the first young woman to win a Guggenheim Fellowship in the Arts, first woman director of the National Museum of Fine Arts ... and she had many other firsts," said Garafulich-Grabois.

At 30, Garafulic was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to continue her study of sculpture in New York, but she had "experienced the connection between material and artist." Garafulic enjoyed her New York life, but felt compelled to return to her homeland. According to Garafulich-Grabois, Garafulic retuned to Chile to "pass on knowledge and experience to sculpt new generations of artists, a remarkable decision that merely shows the vocation and love she had for her craft, her students and her country." 

"Lily Garafulic: Centenary Celebration," is open from Monday to Friday (11:30AM-7:30PM) and Saturday (10:30AM - 1:30PM) at the Instituto Cervantes at 211-215 E. 49th Street, 10017 New York. Visit https://www.lilygarafulic.com/ for more details on the artist. 

The family of Lily Garafulic would also like to show gratitude for sponsorship by the Directorate of Cultural Affairs  of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile with the participation of the Consulate General of Chile in New York, Embassy of Chile in Washington, D.C., Art Museum of the Americas of the OAS and Instituto Cervantes.