El Museo del Barrio
1230 Fifth Avenue
Museum Mile,
New York, NY 10029
(212) 831-7272
info@elmuseo.org
Hours: Wednesday-Saturday 11:00am-6:00pm/Sunday-12:00pm-5:00pm/Closed: Tuesday
Fee: $9.00 for Adults/$5.00 Children & Seniors/Free: Members and children under 12/Seniors on Wednesdays
TripAdvisor Review:
The El Museo del Barrio at 1239 Fifth Avenue
The Mission:
The mission of El Museo del Barrio is to present and preserve the art and culture of Puerto Ricans and all Latin Americans in the United States. Through its extensive collections, varied exhibitions and publications, bilingual public programs, educational activates, festivals and special events, El Museo educates its diverse public in the richness of Caribbean and Latin American arts and cultural history.
By introducing young people to this cultural heritage, El Museo is creating the next generation of museum-goers while satisfying the growing interest in Caribbean and Latin American art of a broad national and international audience.
The History of the Museum:
El Museo was founded 45 years ago by artist and educator Raphael Montanez Ortiz and a coalition of parents, educators, artists and activists who not that mainstream museums largely ignored Latino artists. Since its inception, El Museo has been committed to celebrating and promoting Latino culture, thus becoming a cornerstone of El Barrio and a valuable resource for New York City.
The exhibitions in the Main Gallery
El Museo’s varied permanent collection of over 6,500 objects, spans more than 800 years of Latin American, Caribbean and Latino art, includes pre-Columbian Taino artifacts, traditional arts, twentieth-century drawings, painting, sculptures and installations as well as prints, photography, documentary films and video. For a brief overview of our history and to explore the institutional chronology and exhibition history year by year.
The Galleries of El Museo del Barrio
Our Purpose:
El Museo del Barrio’s purpose is to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret the art and artifacts of Caribbean and Latin American cultures for posterity.
To enhance the sense of identify, self-esteem and self-knowledge of the Caribbean and Latin American peoples by educating them in their artistic heritage and bringing art and artists into their communities.
To provide an educational forum that promotes an appreciation and understanding of Caribbean and Latin American art and culture and its rich contribution to North America.
To offer Caribbean and Latin American artists greater access to institutional support in the national and international art world.
To convert young people of Caribbean and Latin American descent into the next generation of museum-goers, stakeholders in the institution created for them.
To fulfill our special responsibility as a center of learning and training ground for the growing numbers of artists, educators, art historians and museum professionals interested in Caribbean and Latin American Art.
The mission reaffirms the vision of Raphael Montanez Ortiz, who founded El Museo del Barrio in 1969 and of the Puerto Rican educators, artists and community activities who worked in support of this goal.
(El Museo del Barrio pamphlet online)
The Collection:
The museum features an extensive collection of around 8,500 pieces composed of pre-Columbian and traditional artifacts, particularly a large permanent Taino exhibit as well as 20th century arts and crafts, graphics and popular media, Mexican masks, textiles from Chile and photographs and traditional art from Puerto Rico. There are often temporary exhibits on Puerto Rican and Latino modern art. The museum also sponsors numerous festivals and educational programs throughout the year including the annual Three Kings Day parade. Due to a lack of space prior to their 2009-2010 expansion, the museum began to place some of their permanent collection online. This also served as a means of audience development. (Wikipedia)
Visiting a Museum: The Unique, Unusual, Obscure and Historical 