Rendering of new El Museo del Barrio entrance and courtyard
Opening October 2009
Courtesy of El Museo del Barrio and Gruzen Samton
Architects LLP

August 21, 2009

El Museo del Barrio

El Museo del Barrio To Reopen October 17, 2009
Celebrating 40th Anniversary Year
Renovated & Expanded Facilities

1230 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10029-4401
Tel: (212) 660-7165
Fax: (212) 831-7927

http://www.elmuseo.org

Inaugural Exhibitions:
Nexus New York: Latin/American Artists in the Modern Metropolis
October 17, 2009 - February 28, 2010

Voces y Visiones: Four Decades Through El Museo del Barrio's Permanent Collection
In the new Carmen Ana Unanue Galleries

After undergoing extensive renovations, El Museo del Barrio New York will reopen to the public on Saturday, October 17, 2009, with a landmark exhibition entitled Nexus New York: Latin/American Artists in the Modern Metropolis, as well as Voces y Visiones: Four Decades Through El Museo del Barrio's Permanent Collection, the inaugural exhibition in the new Carmen Ana Unanue Galleries, and an all-day open house celebrating the launch of its expanded public programs.

El Museo's Updated Facilities
Located at 1230 Fifth Avenue, between 104th and 105th 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 by the Art Commission of the City of New York, and will bring sparkling new face to the Museum Mile's only Latino institution. Central to the renovation was the need to render El Museo even more welcoming to the public and to enhance its role in the community. The reopening also marks the launch of El Museo's 40th Anniversary celebrations, which will continue all year with a rich array of public programming, events, performances, and exhibitions.

To complement the opening of its renovated facility, El Museo will also launch its new website and unveil a new visual identity that will reflect 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 Exhibition
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. 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, one of the oldest and most important collections of twentieth-century Caribbean, Latino, and Latin American art in the U.S. The collection maintains a sustained focus on artists, groups, and schools that emerged, produced, or interacted in New York. El Museo is one of only a handful of Latino museums in the U.S. that has a permanent collection. The inaugural exhibition in the new galleries, Voces y Visiones, will take viewers through the timeline of El Museo's history and the history of Latin American and Caribbean art in New York, the U.S. and internationally.

Following Nexus New York, El Museo will present Phantom Sightings: Art After the Chicano Movement (March 21 – June 6, 2010); Retro/Active: The Works of Rafael Ferrer (June – September 2010); and Nueva York (September 17, 2010 – February 15, 2011), a collaboration with the New-York Historical Society that explores the role that Latinos and the Spanish-speaking world have played from 1624 through World War II in making New York a world cultural center, an one of the world's Latino strongholds. In the Spring of 2011, El Museo will present El Museo's Bienal: The (S) Files 2011.

Public Programs
With its reopening, El Museo will also be expanding upon its family and adult public programming, which engage a cross-section of artists, writers, scholars and critics across disciplines. Among these programs will be the return of NUEVO CINE: Recent Films from Latin America, IN OUR LINGO: Dialogues Between Latino Authors, and SPIC UP!/Speak Out! Latino Spoken Word Open Mic.

In keeping with its mission to be a community-driven institution, El Museo is launching Super Sabado: Target Free Third Saturdays at El Museo. This new series offers a whole day of free programming, including film screenings, spoken word poetry readings, concerts, and family art-making activities, among others.

Funding and Support
El Museo's Re-Envisioning Campaign, which provided support for increased capacity and program expansion in anticipation of the museum's reopening, received generous support from the Altman Foundation, Altria Group, Booth Ferris Foundation, Charina Endowment Trust, The Steven A. and Alexandra M. Cohen Foundation, Con Edison, the Ford Foundation, Institute of Museum and Library Services, Henry Luce Foundation, Time Warner, Carmen and Joe Unanue and Family, the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation, and the Wallace Foundation.

The Opening Year programs and exhibitions of El Museo del Barrio are made possible through leadership support from American Express, Bloomberg, Jacques & Natasha Gelman Trust, Agnes Gund, JP Morgan Chase, The Henry Luce Foundation, MetLife, Target and the Terra Foundation for American Art. Additional support is provided by public funds from U.S. Representative José E. Serrano, New York State Senator José M. Serrano, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.

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 http://www.elmuseo.org

Media Contacts:
For further information, images, or to arrange interviews, please contact:

Elizabeth Reina or Ben Thornborough
Blue Medium, Inc.
T: (212) 675-1800 | E: elizabeth@bluemedium.com

Rose Mary Cortes
El Museo del Barrio
T: (212) 660-7102 | E: press@elmuseo.org