Culture has a right to move out of the Barrio: Puerto Rican and Latino artists emerge at El Museo Del Barrio

By Joanna Gonzalez

Published: Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Updated: Tuesday, June 15, 2010 17:06

After 17 months of renovations, El Museo Del Barrio is reopened, revamped and the only museum in the City's well-known Museum Mile that houses Latino art and cultural pieces.

The museum was first established in 1969 after the orphanage that resided in that area was stripped down.

Now, as more people find their way into one of the largest cities, a director of the museum, Julián Zugazagoitia, told The New York Times that it "tweaked its mission to focus not only on Puerto Rican culture, but also on Latin American and Latino art."

"Culture has the right to move out of the barrio too. For Puerto Rican culture to be integrated into Latino culture and then into the larger world culture — that was always my vision," Raphael Montanez Ortiz, the founder of this new Hispanic cultural scene said.

The new $35 million renovation portrays the practical environment of most museums, as The Daily News states, "six-years-in-the-making rehab work has added a welcoming new glass facade and a cafe, redesigned the courtyard and refurbished the galleries and shop at one of the city's most revered Latino institutions."

"Pan-Latino café will serve comfort food such as tacos, chuckwagon chili, tostones, and rice and beans," according to NewYorkKidsTimeOut.

El Museo Del Barrio "will kick-start its polished new life with exhibits featuring everything from ancient pre-Columbian artifacts to a multimedia celebration on the role of Latino culture in New York City," according to The New York Daily News.

From the day of its reopening until Feb. 28, 2010, El Museo will be exhibiting, with the help of curator Deborah Cullen, "Nexus New York: Latin/American Artists in the Modern Metropolis," according to the museum's web site, Elmuseo.org.

The exhibition will include art work that dates back to the beginning of the 20th century, which will be, according to The New York Daily News, "Starting in 1910 with artists that tackled Realism and Expressionism, like Puerto Rican Miguel Pou y Becerra, and Dominican Celeste Woss y Gil;  and wraps up with Surrealism, with artists such as Ecuadorian Camilo Egas and Chilean Roberto Matta."

For the very first time, The New York Daily News also stated that "a 1933 Diego Rivera painting of a Communist worker grabbing a hand with a bloodied knife, done after Rivera's controversial Rockefeller Center mural, will be exhibited at El Museo."

Another exhibit, "Voces y Visiones" (voices and visions), "features over 150 pieces of the museum's 6,500 objects, including works of arts and historical objects tracing the growth of El Museo from its founding in a brownstone by artist Raphael Montañez Ortiz in 1969, to the present."

According to Artknownledgenews.com, "El Museo is one of only a handful of Latino museums in the U.S. that has a permanent collection," which ironically, is called the Carmen Ana Unanue Permanent Collection, a benefactor to the museum who also happens to be the wife of the founder of Goya Foods.

It appears to be that the museum is heading down the right path by incorporating Latinos and non-Latinos into their art scene. They are able to give both sides of the spectrum, literally, which increases their notability.

Zugazagoitia tells the people of the city, "We want to be the gateway into the neighborhood. Families can come here, see an exhibit, have a meal, go to the Museum of the City of New York next door, see the Conservatory Garden, discover the stores—really make a day of it. We want this part of the city to become a destination. We want it to be very welcoming. We are warm, and the colors will tell you that."