About Us

Amparo and Manuel Foundation (AMMA) recognizes the importance and potential of art to improve people’s lives. It was founded in 2003 by Amparo Espinosa Rugarcía and Manuel Serrano Espinosa and is based in Mexico City, Mexico.

 

It houses a collection of contemporary art specializing in portraiture, consisting largely of works by some one hundred international artists who can now be discovered and appreciated in Mexico. As part of its outreach efforts, Amparo and Manuel Foundation organizes exhibitions that can be visited throughout the country and across the Americas, and also loans its works to institutions in Latin America and around the world.

 

The mobility of the artworks is very important, as it is the primary means of ensuring universal access to art and culture. AMMA Foundation carries out its work throughout the country in a decentralized manner.

 

Among the projects and support provided by the Amparo and Manuel Foundation (AMMA) is the Educational Scholarship Program, through which it helps young applicants with academic merit to begin and complete their undergraduate and graduate studies in any field of study, offering them the opportunity to attend institutions with high-quality educational programs.

  • Two names with a family legacy

    Amparo y Manuel Foundation’s history revolves around two family names: Amparo and Manuel. In this family history, both names arrived...

    María del Amparo Puebla Fuente

    Amparo y Manuel Foundation’s history revolves around two family names: Amparo and Manuel. In this family history, both names arrived in Mexico by ship from Spain in the mid-19th century, first to Veracruz, then to Puebla, and later they settled in Mexico City. Since then, the family has maintained the tradition of passing these names down from generation to generation, turning them into a symbol of identity: Amparo, which means “refuge,” and Manuel, which refers to “the man who accompanies” or “the one who is close.”
     
    This duality functions as a system of checks and balances: the Manuels build and sustain the external structures, while the Amparos safeguard and protect from within. The first name traces back to great-great-grandfather Manuel Puebla Egaña, who laid the family’s material foundations in the 19th century; the first Amparo was his daughter Amparo Puebla Fuente, who established the family’s protective lineage. Since then, both names have appeared consistently throughout the extensive family tree of their founders.

  • In the 20th century, Manuel Espinosa Yglesias and his wife, Amparo Rugarcía Yglesias, combined financial modernization with the establishment of philanthropic foundations. Their children, Amparo Espinosa Rugarcía and Manuel Espinosa Rugarcía, carried on this legacy through cultural, literary, and educational preservation on the one hand, and institutional development on the other.
     
    Ultimately, the family legacy extended into the creative industries with Amparo Serrano Espinosa ("Amparín"), who dedicated herself to design and digital illustration, and her brother Manuel Serrano Espinosa, who focused on contemporary art. In the 21st century, these names continue within the new generations, including Amparo Alexia West Serrano.