Aztlan-Network-News Blog: Latinos planning $10 million museum in Phoenix

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Latinos planning $10 million museum in Phoenix

01:41 PM CST on Saturday, March 7, 2009

Associated Press

PHOENIX – A dozen Arizona arts groups are planning to begin efforts this month to build a Latino cultural center in Phoenix and have a $10 million facility five years down the road.

The coalition of arts groups, known as the Latin Arts and Culture Consortium Inc., wants to start by raising $200,000 for the cultural center, which they hope will open later this year. Then they could start on a major museum.

Phoenix was left without a Latino art museum in January, when the 19-year-old Museo Chicano closed after city officials decided not to renew its lease.

Major Latino museums have sprung up in cities including San Antonio, Texas, Albuquerque, N.M., and Long Beach, Calif., and Latinos in Phoenix say the nation's fifth largest city desperately needs one of its own. Roughly 40 percent of Phoenix's 1.5 million residents are Hispanic.

"It's kind of embarrassing," said Martin Moreno, a local resident and nationally known muralist.

Moreno, who serves on the coalition's board of directors, said Phoenix needs a center that preserves and nurtures Latino, Chicano and indigenous contributions to the arts.

"Art is that magical bridge that brings people together," he said. "You don't have to understand Picasso's language to understand his work."

Moreno said the demise of the Museo Chicano has fueled the effort to create a major Latino museum and cultural center.

The coalition envisions a place where everyone is welcome; where children's workshops, a dance production, art exhibition and tamale-cooking class could take place under one roof.

"At the end of the day, we are creating and investing in a legacy for Latino arts and culture," said Erlinda Torres, president of the coalition's board. "It means enhancing the life of all Arizonans."

She said many local Latino artists can't afford to rent space at major arts venues, and a Latino center could remedy that.

Latinos in Maricopa County spend an estimated $118 million on arts and culture annually, according to a study published last year.