For close to 50 years, the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame has championed cowgirls of all backgrounds. They have a long record of lifting women from the shadows of history, and in many cases, recovering lost voices. It is within this vein that they are curating a new multi-gallery exhibition: "Soldaderas to Amazonas: Escaramuzas Charras."

The roots between the charreada and rodeo run deep; equally deep are the symbolic roots that tie modern day escaramuza charra to the soldaderas of the Mexican Revolution, those women who assisted in the revolt against oppressive Mexican government forces. The sport of escaramuza consists of an eight-member team of equestrians executing intricate patterns at a gallop. Escaramuza is a way of life for these competitors; there is no large payout at competitions or million-dollar sponsorships.

The exhibition consists of two complementing, connecting galleries: The first gallery includes textiles, the adelita-inspired dresses for which they are known, the sombreros charro, rebozos, boots and matching tack. The brightly colored and adorned dresses have their own ties to history, to charrería, and iconic Mexicanas.

The second gallery comprises a series of portraits, Escaramuza, The Poetics of Home, by award-winning photographer Constance Jaeggi. Jaeggi’s portraits are accompanied by original works from 2023 Texas Poet Laureate Ire’ne Lara Silva, and Angelina Sáenz, award-winning educator, poet and writing project fellow at UCLA. Their collaboration will consider themes of identity, family and gender within the escaramuza community.

The exhibition will include family and adult programming, incorporating voices that speak to the escaramuza tradition, including forums with the U.S. teams, discussions of the soldadera and adelita as female markers, enhanced online content for adults and students, and bilingual guides for visitors.