El Museo del Barrio Reopens
Saturday, October 17, 2009
All-Day Open House Festivities Celebrating Renovated and Expanded Facility, The New Carmen Ana Unanue Galleries And El Museo’s 40th Anniversary Year
Inaugural Exhibitions
Nexus New York: Latin/American Artists in the Modern Metropolis and
Voces y Visiones: Four Decades through El Museo del Barrio’s Permanent Collection
Press Preview: Wednesday, October 14, 2009, 11am
El Museo del Barrio, New York’s leading Latino cultural institution, reopens Saturday, October 17, 2009 with an all-day open house celebrating the newly renovated facility, the launch of the new Carmen Ana Unanue Galleries, and the museum’s 40th Anniversary. To mark the occasion, a full day of free programs, including gallery tours, performances, concerts, book readings, and educational programs for children and adults will ring in the reopening festivities along with the launch of two landmark exhibitions, Nexus New York: Latin/American Artists in the Modern Metropolis, and Voces y Visiones: Four Decades through El Museo del Barrio’s Permanent Collection. In celebration of El Museo’s reopening, the Empire State Building will be illuminated with the museum’s signature mango-yellow color from Friday, October 16 through Sunday, October 18, heralding the reopening to the entire city.
A sparkling new face on New York’s Museum Mile, and in a city where Latino cultures have become an essential part of the way of life, El Museo celebrates the colors of its community and intends to provide a rich array of high quality programming, which will continue to enliven El Barrio’s community. “El Museo del Barrio is at the junction of Museum Mile on Fifth Avenue and the gateway to El Barrio, a neighborhood rich in Latino traditions,” says Julián Zugazagoitia, El Museo’s Director and CEO. “Our holdings and programs span from our Puerto Rican roots to a wide range of Latino, Caribbean and Latin American cultures.”
El Museo’s new facility, along with its ambitious new exhibitions and programming, also positions the museum as a major New York cultural destination for visitors across the city and from around the country and the world. Says Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, “It’s fitting that Latin American art has such an extraordinary venue in New York City, and it’s exciting that El Museo now has such a beautifully renovated new space to welcome audiences to Museum Mile. New York City draws its vibrancy and richness from the diversity of its cultural offerings. By supporting El Museo del Barrio and helping them expand, we are building the City’s capacity to serve cultural visitors now, and for future generations.”
The most immediate feature of the reopening, and one that has embolden the ambition of the museum and community, is the renovated and expanded facility, funded through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, with support by local elected officials, and administered by the New York City Department of Design and Construction. Designed by Gruzen Samton Architects, it will house a full selection of invigorated cultural programming and a café that will serve as a multipurpose space to welcome visitors and neighbors alike.
Located at 1230 Fifth Avenue and 104th Street, the renovated museum features a new glass façade, a redesigned courtyard, modernized galleries, as well as a new café/programming space and an expanded shop. The design by Gruzen Samton Architects received an award for Excellence in Design presented by Mayor Bloomberg on behalf of the Art Commission of the City of New York.
To complement the opening of its renovated facility, El Museo has also launched its new website and has unveiled a new visual identity that reflects the vitality of its offerings and programs. The new visual identity is the work of Miguel Sal, executed by Elvira Moran; the website was designed by Hot Studio.
Inaugural Exhibitions
The inaugural exhibition, Nexus: New York: Latin/American Artists in the Modern Metropolis, explores the interactions between U.S.-born, Caribbean, and Latin American artists working in New York in the early twentieth century, who together fomented many of that era’s most important avant-garde art movements. Curated by Deborah Cullen, Director of Curatorial Programs, Nexus: New York is the first exhibition to explore the profound way these artistic exchanges between Latino and non-Latino artists deeply impacted art and art movements in this city and numerous countries for years to come. The exhibition is also deeply representative of El Museo’s mission to produce new scholarship on the significant yet sometimes overlooked contributions made by Latino, Caribbean, and Latin American artists.
Nexus New York will be presented with the simultaneous debut of the Carmen Ana Unanue Galleries, El Museo’s first-ever galleries dedicated to its permanent holdings of more than 6,500 artworks and objects. The exhibition in the galleries, entitled Voces y Visiones: Four Decades through El Museo del Barrio’s Permanent Collection, takes viewers through a timeline of El Museo’s history and its connection to Latin American and Caribbean art in New York, the United States, and internationally. El Museo is one of only a handful of Latino museums in the U.S. that has a permanent collection.
Public Programs
With its reopening, El Museo is expanding upon its family and adult public programming, which engage a cross-section of artists, writers, scholars and critics across disciplines. A complete program is available upon request and can be found at www.elmuseo.org.
On Saturday, October 17, 2009, all programs will be free to the public in celebration of El Museo’s reopening.
About El Museo del Barrio
El Museo del Barrio, New York’s leading Latino cultural institution, welcomes visitors of all backgrounds to discover the artistic and cultural landscape of the Caribbean and Latin America. The richness of Latino cultures is represented in El Museo’s wide-ranging collections and exhibitions, complemented by performing arts events, cultural celebrations, and educational programs. A dynamic artistic, cultural, and community gathering place, El Museo is a center of cultural pride on New York’s Museum Mile.
For more information about El Museo, please visit www.elmuseo.org.
Media Contacts:
Elizabeth Reina or Ben Thornborough
Blue Medium, Inc.
T: (212) 675-1800 | E: elizabeth@bluemedium.com
Inés Aslan
El Museo del Barrio
T: (212) 660-7102 | E: iaslan@elmuseo.org
