Casa de la Mujer Josefina Ortiz de Domínguez

A public laundry for working women on Tepalcatitla Street in Coyoacán, built under President Cárdenas. In Hayden Herrera’s Frida it is where Frida’s students paint their second collective mural in 1945.

At a glance

Source	Author	Role	In one line
Frida	Hayden Herrera	setting	Los Fridos paint murals for laundresses, who review the designs; the opening is part fiesta, part political meeting.

Frida — Hayden Herrera (1983)

Source: Frida - A Biography of Frida Kahlo · Original · Readwise highlight

The one in Coyoacán comprised several small houses: one for ironing, another for a nursery, another for dining, and the last a meeting room for public and social functions. It was here that “Los Fridos” painted their murals.

• Role: setting
• In the book: After the owner of a hotel destroys their earlier work, the “Fridos” get a more fitting project in 1945: murals for this laundry, built for widows and unwed mothers who had washed clothes in muddy streams. At the opening there are speeches, a printed corrido to sing and tacos of nopal cactus cooked by the laundresses.
• Why it matters: It shows Frida steering her students toward art that serves the public good, in keeping with her and Diego’s politics.