Eight 20-foot sculptures inspired by Mexican magical realism will fill Discovery Green’s downtown park this fall, when Discovery Green opens Fantastic Animals from México: Alebrijes and Nahuales on September 15. The free, temporary installation runs through October 18 and marks the park’s unofficial launch of fall programming, which includes Hispanic Heritage Month events.
The sculptures — designed by celebrated Oaxacan artists — draw on two distinct traditions: the alebrije, a vibrantly colored fantastical creature popularized by Mexico City artist Pedro Linares, and the nahual, a mythical shapeshifter from Mesoamerican folklore. Each piece is an enlarged reproduction of an original work.
The eight figures span a wide imaginative range: a skeletal “death dog” by Adrian Xuana, who brings more than 40 years of craft experience to the piece; a Coyote by Efrain Fuentes that pulls from Zapotec motifs found at Monte Albán; and a grinning Happy Alien by the late Constantino Blas, a former farmer who became a nationally recognized sculptor.
Other works include an Armadillo by Margarito Melchor — who pioneered Oaxacan woodcarving using farm tools — a feline-avian hybrid Catbird and a mythic LionBull, both by Leonardo Linares, grandson of Pedro Linares himself, and a Rabbit surrounded by painted butterflies and flowers by Maria Jimenez.
Workshops, cocktails, and community programming
Two free, hands-on workshops for children, led by Mexican paper-mâché artist Irving Mondragón Laguna, run alongside the exhibition. A Paper-Mâché Masks session is scheduled for Saturday, September 19 (2–4 p.m.), and a Small Alebrijes workshop follows on Saturday, September 26 (5–7 p.m.).
Three Houston restaurants have created mezcal cocktails tied to specific sculptures. The Grove, located inside the park, serves a tepache-and-pineapple-tequila drink inspired by the Catbird. Xochi and Zaranda — both from James Beard Award-winning chef Hugo Ortega — offer a blood orange and Amarás mezcal cocktail called the Happy Alien, priced at $15 at Xochi, with $1 from each sale going to Discovery Green Conservancy, the nonprofit that operates the park.
The installation is free and open to the public. Discovery Green is located at 1500 McKinney Street in downtown Houston.
