Timeline
60's
1969
- SPRING: Raphael Montañez Ortiz, artist and educator, is appointed by Martin W. Frey, Superintendent of NYC Board of Education’s School District 4, to create curriculum on Puerto Rican history, culture, folklore, and art. Montañez Ortiz reconceives the project as a community museum, founding El Museo del Barrio and serving as its first director (through Spring 1971)
- SUMMER: Montañez Ortiz travels to Puerto Rico with Frey, to conduct research on Puerto Rican culture and make institutional contacts with museum directors and anthropologists
- FALL: El Museo del Barrio begins operations in a classroom at PS 125 (425 West 123rd Street), the location of the office of District 4
- No exhibitions hosted this year.
70's
1970
- SPRING: The museum relocates to PS 206 (508 East 120th Street), following a citywide reorganization of school districts
- The Art of Needlework
- Puerto Rican Painting and Graphics
1971
- JAN: “El Museo del Barrio” is filed as a nonprofit corporation with Raphael Montañez Ortiz, José García and Jerald Ordover listed as directors
- SPRING: Community activists from School District 4 and Community Board 11 hold hearings on the future of El Museo del Barrio; Montañez Ortiz and Marta Moreno Vega present before the public. Moreno Vega is selected as the second Director of the museum (through March 1975)
- MAY: The magazine Art in America publishes the essay Culture and the people by Montañez Ortiz
- SPRING: El Museo del Barrio relocates to 206 East 116th Street and later inaugurates its new space with the exhibition Homage to Our Painters
- SEPT 22: “Amigos del Museo del Barrio” is filed as a nonprofit corporation with Moreno Vega, Eugene Calderón, Hilda Arroyo and Hiram Maristany listed as directors
- FALL: School groups from across New York City visit the museum, participating in workshops and exhibitions
- NOV: The museum receives its first donation to the Permanent Collection, a graphic art portfolio from the Centro de Arte Puertorriqueño, donated by Florencio García Cisneros
- DEC: First reference to Three King’s Day celebration and programming at the museum is published in The New York Times
- Boricua – aquí y alla
Presented at the American Museum of Natural History in The Corner Gallery - Graphics
- El arte de la aguja
- Homage to Our Painters
- What Puerto Rico Means to Me
- Taíno
- Graphic Portfolio of El Centro de Arte Puertorriqueño
- Three Magi
1972
- The museum leases its fourth location at 1945 Third Avenue, later expanding at the same site
- The museum launches its “Mobile Unit,” a van with exhibitions that travels to various locations to serve students, community festivals, and other groups throughout New York City
- JUN: Moreno Vega publishes “The Community Museum Concept,” in the museum’s bilingual education quarterly, Quimbamba
- WINTER: The museum hosts a Christmas Celebration, including visits with the Three Kings
- Handcrafts/Artesanias
- Arte de la aguja
- Un saborcito de los talleres
- El taller rodante
- Christmas Celebration
1973
- El Museo del Barrio begins to use logo depicting the Taíno fertility goddess Atabey
- APR: The museum inaugurates its new location at 1945 Third Avenue with the exhibition The Art Heritage of Puerto Rico: Pre-Columbian to the Present, the first historical survey of Puerto Rican art, organized in collaboration with The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it later travels in the summer
- JUL: Proposed cuts in state urban education funds threaten the museum’s financial support from the New York City Department of Education. The staff elects to work without pay
- DEC: Moreno Vega publishes the museum’s first annual report, which details the two names “El Museo del Barrio” and “Amigos del Museo del Barrio” (Quimbamba, December 1973)
- Graphic Art of Puerto Rico
- The Art Heritage of Puerto Rico: Pre-Columbian to the Present
Collaboration with The Metropolitan Museum of Art | (View exhibition catalog) - La historia del Cartel Puertorriqueño
- Feliz Navidad/Christmas
1974
- JUN: El Museo del Barrio presents the groundbreaking exhibition, Aspectos de la esclavitud en Puerto Rico, documenting slavery and Afro-Puerto Rican heritage, that includes contemporary art, photographs, and original African artifacts on loan from the American Museum of Natural History
- La Herencia de Nuestros Niños
- Aspectos de la esclavitud en Puerto Rico
- Art as Survival
Collaboration with the Puerto Rican Studies Department, Livingston College, Rutgers University | (View exhibition catalog) - Festival de Bomba y Plena
1975
- MAR: The museum acquires the lease of a firehouse located at 175 East 104th Street. With help from Teatro 4 and other volunteers, the building is made useable
- APR: Hiram Maristany serves as Acting Director (through July 1977)
- The museum is the recipient of the International Benin Award for its efforts and contributions to the “rising of consciousness” among the local and larger community of Black people throughout the world
- “Siete” 7
- Expresiones del alma/ Expressions of the Soul
- Two Person Exhibition
- Carlos Osorio
- Photography Exhibition | (View exhibition catalog)
- 4th Annual Anniversary Exhibition: Puerto Rican Graphic Arts from the Permanent Collection
- Homage to Casals
- A Photo Essay de Puerto Rico: Pre-Colombina Hasta 1940 | (View exhibition catalog)
- Exhibición Navideña
- 9 Puerto Rican Artists | (View exhibition catalog)
1976
- SEPT: The photographic exhibition El Barrio-New York: Our History 1910-1969 opens, featuring interviews, music, and other documentation related to East Harlem
- Exhibition of Women Artists
- Nostalgia
- Exhibition of Sculpture
- We the People
- El Barrio-New York: Our History 1910-1969
- Children of El Barrio: Artists of the Future
- Santos (Religion)
- Mitología y Artes of Pre-Columbian Caribbean
- Aguinaldo: Un canto navideño
1977
- JUL: Jack Agüeros is appointed Executive Director (through March 1986)
- Agüeros negotiates with Boys Harbor, a nonprofit youth services agency, to relocate the museum to the main floor of the Heckscher Building, a multi-tenant, city-owned property at 1230 Fifth Avenue, the current location of the museum. The museum initially leases 12,000 square feet and immediately begins renovation on 3,000 square feet of gallery space
- The museum joins the Cultural Institutions Group (CIG) through a decree from Edward J. Koch, Mayor of New York City
- Ceramics: Pre-Columbian & Contemporary
- Teatro: Hispanic Theatre in NYC (1420-1976)
Collaboration with Off Off Broadway Alliance - “El Barrio” Photographs
Presented at Worcester Center - Confrontación: Ambiente y Espacio | (View exhibition catalog)
1978
- A logo is introduced reflecting the windows of the museum’s new location at the Heckscher Building, designed by Nestor Otero
- JAN: Agüeros begins the annual tradition of organizing a Three Kings Day Parade in East Harlem, including live animals. Over the years, artists and staff members contribute costumes, props, decorations, and papier-mâché figures of the Three Kings
- APR: The new location and renovated galleries are inaugurated by the exhibition Resurgimiento
- OCT: Agüeros notes that the museum’s Permanent Collection includes approximately 70 paintings and sculptures and 600 works on paper in the Recent Acquisitions catalogue
- Resurgimiento
- En foco documentation Portfolio No. 1: The Puerto Rican Experience
- Recent Acquisitions of El Museo del Barrio
- Photographs of Mexico: Modotti/ Strand/ Weston and Four Young Mexican Photographers
Collaboration with Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., part of Mexico Today citywide celebration - Fragmentos de mis islas: Photographs by José Rubén Gaztambide
1979
- The museum opens an art school in the firehouse with a faculty largely composed of local artists. A course catalogue from January 1980 lists Carmen Biascoechea as the Director of the School of Art
- APR: Santos de palo, an installation of almost 90 santos is placed on rotating and permanent display
- JUN 10: The museum co-founds the Museum Mile Festival on Fifth Avenue with ten other major institutions participating, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of the City of New York, The Jewish Museum and The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
- AUG: 2,300 petition signatures are gathered from the local community, halting the city’s sale of the firehouse, where the museum’s art school was located
- Bridge Between Islands: Retrospective Works by Six Puerto Rican Artists in New York
Collaboration with Henry Street Settlement-Louis Abrons Arts for Living Center; The Bronx Museum of the Arts | (View exhibition catalog) - Personajes del Recuerdo: Recent Works by Domingo García
- Santos de palo
- Jorge Soto Sánchez: Works on Paper 1974-1979
- Portrayals: Photographs by José Antonio Vázquez
- Paintings, Collages and Sculptures from the Permanent Collection of El Museo del Barrio
Presented at Arsenal Gallery - La Familia – The Latin Family
Collaboration with En Foco - Mujeres 9: A Photographic Exhibition
- José Morales: Painting and Drawing, New York Series #1
80's
1980
- Teatro 4 organizes its first theatrical production in the firehouse
- MAR: Board of Trustee George Aguirre helps the museum purchase the firehouse
- AUG: Artists David Hammons conceives Art Across the Park, an outdoor sculpture project in upper Central Park featuring 20 artists, and concluding in the museum’s courtyard, where works by Jim Nichols and Pedro Luján are installed
- NOV 20: A ribbon cutting ceremony is held to celebrate the purchase of the firehouse
- Graphics from the Permanent Collection of El Museo del Barrio
Presented at Jersey City CETA Office - Homage to Casa de las Americas, Cuba
- Carlos Raquel Rivera, “con su permiso” | (View exhibition catalog)
- John Bentancourt-Puerto Rico: Calor
- Comadres: A Collective Environmental Exhibit by Ten Women Artists
- Fox and Intervale: Photographs by Perla de León | (View exhibition catalog)
- From Museo Rayo to Museo del Barrio
- Petroglifos de Boriquén
- Roger Cabán: Images of Panama/Portobelo II | (View exhibition catalog)
- Carteles de Navidad, 1950-1979 | (View exhibition catalog)
- Untitled/Anonymous: Paintings by Colo | (View exhibition catalog)
1981
- El Museo del Barrio joins the American Association of Museums
- Museum hosts the first National Latino Film and Video Festival
- MAY: The Golden Age of Spain: Theatre and Period Dress opens at the museum, as part of the “Golden Age” festival celebrating the 300th anniversary of the playwright Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s death
- Julio Nazario-Grand Central: Notes from the Underground
- Images of Villarini
- Auto Retratos: A Photographic Exhibition
Travels: Casa Aboy, San Juan - The Golden Age of Spain: Theatre and Period Dress
Collaboration with Ballet Hispanico and INTAR Hispanic American Theater | (View exhibition catalog) - National Latino Film & Video Festival
- Silkscreen Posters by José Rosa | (View exhibition catalog)
- Marcos Dimas: The Voyager | (View exhibition catalog)
- The Puerto Rican Diaspora: A Preview Exhibition of Photographs by Frank Espada
1982
- MAY: First retrospective of artist Myrna Báez is presented and later travels to other institutions
- SUMMER: Artist Papo Colo organizes the project Octopus in the museum’s courtyard consisting of plywood sheets hinged together to form a 140-foot long artist’s book, with “pages” created by artists and poets including Vito Acconci, David Hammons, Ana Mendieta, Catalina Parra, Reverend Pedro Pietri, Juan Sánchez, and others
- NOV: The New East Wing Gallery and Recent Acquisitions exhibitions celebrate the opening of the renovated galleries, which include the Dr. Ricardo Alegría Gallery of Caribbean Pre-Columbian Art; the Video Gallery; the Art History Gallery; and the East Gallery. The Video Gallery opens with works by artists Juan Downey, Cecilia Vicuña, and Ramsey Najm. The Dr. Ricardo Alegría Gallery of Pre-Columbian Art, which features a waterfall and ramp, presents the first permanent display of the largest U.S. collection of art and artifacts of the Taíno and Greater Antilles, with approximately 200 works
- Teatro 4: Portrait of a Hispanic Community, Theatre, Photographs by Tony Velez
- Los Taínos: A Visual Tradition | (View exhibition catalog)
- The Second National Latino Film & Video Festival
- Myrna Báez: Diez años de Grafica y Pintura, 1971-1981
Travels: Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, MA; Chase Manhattan Bank of Puerto Rico | (View exhibition catalog) - Octopus
Fifth Avenue Courtyard - Enrique Buenaventura: Drawings/ Dibujos
- Children of the Darkness: Rafael Colón Morales: Paintings 1972-1982 | (View exhibition catalog)
- The New East Wing Gallery and Recent Acquisitions | (View exhibition catalog)
- Video at El Museo: Part I
1983
- JAN: La Bodega, the museum’s gift shop, reopens with limited editions by artists, catalogues, Santos de Palo, and other merchandise
- Evelyn Collazo is named Artist-In-Residence from 1983 to 1984
- Video at El Museo: Part II
- Thirty Pictures: Photographs by Marco Kalisch
- Portraits: The Puerto Rican Series
- José Carrero: Obsession with A Laughing Mask
- Eloy Blanco: Faces & Figures, A Retrospective | (View exhibition catalog)
- Rafael Ferrer: Impassioned Rhythms
Organized by the Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, TX - Third National Latino Film & Video Festival
- Edín Velez: Sanctus
- Three Women/ Three Islands
- Taíno Masterpieces
- The Puerto Rican Diaspora: Themes in the Survival of a People, An Exhibition of Photographs by Frank Espada
- Louis Agassiz Fuerte: Vaulted Birds
1984
- JAN: El Museo del Barrio presents Francisco Oller: A Realist Impressionist, a traveling retrospective commemorating the 150th anniversary of the artist’s birth, which includes the masterpiece, El Velorio
- Francisco Oller: A Realist Impressionist
Organized by Museo de Arte de Ponce - Latin Times
- Humble Visions
- Pepón Osorio: Escalio
- ¡Mira! The Canadian Club Hispanic Art Tour 1984
Traveling exhibition - The National Latino Film & Video Festival, and Latin American Film Showcase
Presented at The Public Theatre, New York - Mind Harbors: Works of Art from Nicaragua, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Invited Artists from Argentina
- Faces of the Sixties: Frank Espada
- Miralda: Santa Comida (Holy Food)
Travels: Miami-Dade Community College’s South Campus Art Gallery
1985
- JAN: A new ten-foot high sculpture of one of the Kings is commissioned to artist Rosalie Quintana for the Three King’s Day Parade
- APR: Tony Bechara: Paintings 1980-1985 is the first exhibition of abstract art presented at the museum
- SUMMER: Museum newsletter announces that the Board of Trustees voted to acquire the Heckscher Building; this plan has yet to come to fruition
- Tony Bechara: Paintings 1980-1985
- National Latino Film & Video Showcase
- ¡Mira! The Tradition Continues: The Canadian Club Hispanic Art Tour
Traveling exhibition
1986
- WINTER: Staff agrees to work unpaid to avoid closure of the museum during Department of Cultural Affairs budgetary inquiry; all claims are dismissed
- MAR: Rafael Colón Morales, Curator since 1983, is appointed Acting Director (through April)
- APR: NYC Mayor’s Office appoints Gladys Peña, former Curator from 1979-1984, as Interim Director (through October)
- OCT: Petra Barreras del Río, former Curator and Grants Manager at the New York State Council on the Arts, is appointed Executive Director (through March 1993)
- Taíno: Artifacts from the Collection
- Two by New
- Crafts from Puerto Rico
- Graphics from Latin America
- Arts and Crafts: Photographs
- Life in El Barrio
- Mango Mambo
- Francisco Alvarado-Juárez: Native/ Stranger-Painting & Constructions 1983-1986
- José Gopar: Homage to García Lorca in New York
- Sophie Rivera: All Hallows Eve
1987
- FEB 22: The museum hosts an event organized by artists to protest the lack of Puerto Rican art in New York museums, upon the opening of the Lila Acheson Wallace Gallery at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Images of Latino Community: The Lower East Side 1956-1986
- Painterly Touch
- A Decade of En Foco
Collaboration with The Bronx Museum of the Arts - Films with a Purpose: A Puerto Rican Experiment in Social Films
Screenings at The Museum of Modern Art, The Collective for Living Cinema, El Museo del Barrio, and the Bronx Museum of the Arts - Posters for Films 1950-1979 | (View exhibition catalog)
- Graphic Prints from Puerto Rico
- From the Center: Eugénia Balcells: A Video Installation
- Carlos Osorio: Nueva York-Puerto Rico, Paintings 1956-1984
- Puerto Rican Painting: Between Past & Present
Traveling exhibition organized by The Squibb Gallery, Princeton, NJ
1988
- FEB 27: Commemorative program honoring artist Jorge Soto-Sánchez
- JUN: Museum presents Emblems of His City: José Campeche & San Juan, alongside the artist’s monograph on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
- JUL: El Museo del Barrio’s Registrar’s Office begins consolidation of Permanent Collection through packing, conservation survey and archives research
- AUG: El Museo del Barrio acquires the Theater
- NOV: UP Tiempo! exhibition features performances by 25 artists including Josely Carvalho, ACT UP, James Luna, Manny Vega, and others
- Raphael Montañez Ortiz: Years of the Warrior, Years of the Psyche, 1960-1988 | (View exhibition catalog)
- Growing Beyond: Women Artists from Puerto Rico
Travels: Museum of Modern Art of Latin America, Organization of American States, Washington D.C.; Galería Caribe, San Juan - Emblems of His City: José Campeche & San Juan
- Edgar Franceschi: In Dreams Begin Responsibilities, A Survey of Work 1980-1988
- UP Tiempo! Performing & Visual Artists of the Americas
Collaboration with Creative Time, Inc. - National Latino Film & Video Festival
Presented at Columbia Cinema, New York - ¡Folklore! Traditional Crafts from Cuba, The Dominican Republic, & Puerto Rico Made in New York
Collaboration with The Association of Hispanic Arts, Inc | (View exhibition catalog)
1989
- MAR 28: Museum’s Board of Trustees advocate for the realization of Mayor Koch’s proposal to create a Center for Latino Arts in East Harlem at 1680 Lexington Avenue (today, the Julia de Burgos Latino Cultural Center)
- SPRING: As a member of the Cultural Arts Task Force, Barreras del Río sends a letter to the New York State Black and Puerto Rican Legislative Caucus condemning token grants to organizations of people of color by the New York State Council of the Arts
- SUMMER: El Museo del Barrio launches a pilot program with Children’s Aid Society and Child Psychology Residents from Columbia University to create workshops to develop artistic skills, enhance self-identity and cultural heritage among children. The artworks produced are exhibited in the show, Seeing is Believing
- JUN: NYC Parks Department moves into Heckscher Building, resulting in less space for the museum; Barreras del Río begins exploring solutions to the space limitations
- AUG: Firehouse renovations begin
- ¡Mira! The Canadian Club Hispanic Art Tour III
Traveling exhibition - Taller Alma Boricua: Reflecting on Twenty Years of the Puerto Rican Workshop: 1969-1989 | (View exhibition catalog)
- Seeing is Believing
Children’s exhibition
90's
1990
- SPRING: Museum presents its second children’s exhibition, Nuestra Visión, featuring artworks by more than 1,000 students. The show later travels to the Rotunda of the Cannon House Office Building in Washington D.C. with the support of Congressman Charles Rangel
- FALL: Staff and the Board of Trustees develop the museum’s first 10-year strategic plan; the museum expands and diversifies its Board to include non-Latinos and Latinos of all national backgrounds
- NOV: Another Face exhibition celebrates the recent donation of Mexican Masks
- The traveling exhibition, Through the Path of Echoes, is organized as part of a citywide celebration of Mexico
- DEC 1: Museum participates in Day without Art: A National Day of Action and Mourning in Response to the AIDS Crisis
- Nuestra Visión
Travels: Cannon House Office Building in Washington D.C. - Visual Insights on Paper: A Selection of Prints and Drawings from the Permanent Collection
- El Museo, The Heart of El Barrio: Highlights from the Permanent Collection
Presented at World Financial Center, Winter Garden Gallery, New York, NY; PepsiCo Headquarters, Purchase, NY - Navia, Suárez, Rosario: Three Contemporary Sculptors
- Art Underground: A Public Art Project by Nitza Tufiño
- Through the Path of Echoes: Contemporary Art in Mexico
Organized by Independent Curators, Inc. - Another Face: Mexican Masks in El Museo del Barrio’s Permanent Collection
- Perspectives on Paper: Works from the Permanent Collection of El Museo del Barrio
Presented at East Wing Gallery of Ferris Booth Hall, Columbia University
1991
- MAY: As part of the exhibition, Con to’ los Hierros, artist Pepón Osorio presents El Velorio, in commemoration of the AIDS crisis
- Barreras del Río receives the Hispanic Achievement Award in the Arts
- AUG: Facing budget cuts, the museum temporarily closes from August 5 to September 3
- DEC: Museum opens Permanent Collection exhibition featuring recent important donations, including over 90 Puerto Rican Santos and 55 Taíno clay vessels
- International Show for the End of World Hunger
Organized by Artists to End Hunger - Portfolio Commemorating the First Centennial of the Abolition of Slavery
- Con to’ los Hierros: A Retrospective of the Work of Pepón Osorio | (View exhibition catalog)
- Cine de Mestizaje: The National Latino Film and Video Festival
Presented at The Anthology of Film Archives - Recent Acquisitions to the Permanent Collection
- Caras y Sueños
Children’s exhibition
1992
- JAN: Artist Freddy Rodríguez is named Artist-In-Residence
- JUL: Three sculptures from the Permanent Collection are included in the exhibition, Cross Section: 70 Sculptures from 20 New York City Museums at the World Financial Center’s exhibition gallery
- OCT: A House Party, an installation created by children during museum-led workshops in collaboration with Dieu Donne Papermill, opens in conjunction with Antonio Martorell’s exhibition
- Responsive Hands, a workshop with children from Henry Street Settlement and Union Settlement Associations, is led by artist Grimanesa Amoros
- Voyages to Freedom: 500 Years of Jewish History in Latin America and the Caribbean
- Antonio Martorell & Friends: La Casa de Todos Nosotros/ A House for Us All
Travels: Cayey Campus of the University of Puerto Rico and La Casa de Libro in San Juan | (View exhibition catalog) - A House Party
1993
- MAR: Galleries are closed for renovation of exhibition spaces, public facilities, and a new ADAA compliant entrance. During closure, exhibitions of the Permanent Collection and Education Department’s children’s workshops are on view at other sites
- JUN: The 15th Annual Museum Mile Festival features chalk drawings and stories with artists Antonio Martorell, José Morales, and Grupo Tizón
- DEC: Susana Torruella Leval, Chief Curator since 1990 and Interim Director since March, is appointed Executive Director (through June 2002)
- DEC 17: Sesame Street features a portrait quilt created by PS 171 students made during workshops held by the museum and CARING at Columbia University
- Impresiones: Posters from the Collection of El Museo del Barrio
Presented at Pace University/ Pleasantville Campus; Pace University/Manhattan Campus - From the Heart of a Child
Presented at Tweed Gallery, New York
Children’s exhibition - Our Vision/ Nuestro Vista
Children’s exhibition - Home Away from Home: Latino American Artists, Selected Works from the Collection of El Museo del Barrio
Presented at The Museums of Stony Brook - Posters by Antonio Martorell from the Collection of El Museo del Barrio
Presented at The President’s Office of Hostos Community College - Pa’lante: Political Works from the Collection of El Museo del Barrio
Presented at Lehman College Art Gallery - Insights and Images by Children
Presented at Atlantic Gallery
Children’s exhibition
1994
- SPRING: El Museo del Barrio hosts First Gala
- MAY: The museum inaugurates its renovated galleries in celebration of its 25th anniversary with the three-part exhibition, Artists Talk Back: Visual Conversations with El Museo; the exhibition invites artists to create works in dialogue with the Permanent Collection
- AUG: El Museo del Barrio presents Visiones, a long-range plan that introduces an expanded version of the mission statement: “El Museo del Barrio’s mission is to establish a forum that will preserve and protect the dynamic cultural heritage of Puerto Ricans and all Latin Americans in the United States”
- Los Aguinaldos del Infante
Presented at Taller Boricua - Revelaciones: The Art of Manuel Alvarez Bravo
Traveling exhibition organized by The Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego - 25th Anniversary Exhibition, Artists Talk Back: Visual Conversations with El Museo: Part I – Reclaiming History | (View exhibition catalog)
- The Latino Papers: Posters, Prints and Works on Paper from El Museo del Barrio’s Permanent Collection
Presented at Equitable Gallery, New York - 25th Anniversary Exhibition, Artists Talk Back: Visual Conversations with El Museo: Part II- Recovering Popular Culture | (View exhibition catalog)
- Windows of Our Culture, the Hispanic Vision: An Exhibit of Hispanic Art
Presented at Merrill Lynch Campus Art Gallery - Masks and Santos from the Collection of El Museo del Barrio
Presented at White Plains Public Library, New York - La Familia
Organized by the Mexican Cultural Institute
1995
- SUMMER: The outdoor musical program, Música (later called Summer Nights at El Museo), is held weekly in the museum’s courtyard during the summer and continues for a number of years.
- OCT: First Día de Muertos celebration
- Art of the Other Mexico: Sources and Meanings
Organized by Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, Chicago - 25th Anniversary Exhibition | Artists Talk Back: Visual Conversations with El Museo: Part III – Reaffirming Spirituality | (View exhibition catalogue)
- Spirit Trap: Selections from Reaffirming Spirituality
- Four Corners: Recent Paintings and Drawings by José Morales
- Luis Camnitzer: AMANAPLANACANALPANAMA
- Selections from El Museo’s Permanent Collection
Presented at AVON’s offices - Posters from El Museo del Barrio’s Collection
Presented at NYNEX’s offices
1996
- JAN: Mario César Romero designs an ensemble of royal costumes for the Three Kings Day parade
- Artist Carla Preiss inaugurates Contemporánea, a series of commissioned, site-specific installations by contemporary artists
- JUNE: The Mission Task Force, composed of Board of Trustees and museum staff, reword the 1994 mission statement: “El Museo del Barrio will collect, preserve, exhibit, interpret and promote the artistic heritage of Latin Americans, primarily in the United States.”
- SEPT: Restoration of Henry Prussing’s mural, Spirit of El Barrio begins, sponsored by El Museo del Barrio in collaboration with Hope Community Center
- Historia de la isla: Graphic Works by Puerto Rican Artists 1968-1980
- Recent Acquisitions: Works from El Museo’s Collections
- “Contemporánea” series | Carla Preiss: Portrait
- Leandro Katz: Two Projects/A Decade
- Image and Memory: Photography from Latin America, 1880-1992, organized by Independent Curators, Inc.
- Re-Visions of El Barrio, in collaboration with The International Center of Photography
- “Contemporánea” series Ana Busta: Working Shoes
- Eloy Blanco: Pursuits of Pointing
- ADAL: Out of Focus Nuyoricans
- The Liberated Print: The Portfolio in Puerto Rican Graphics, organized by The Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña
- Santos: Sculptures Between Heaven and Earth
- “Contemporánea” series María Elena González: The Persistence of Sorrow
1997
- MAY: Artist Antonio Martorell reinterprets the 1994 exhibition, The Latino Papers, as the nationally touring exhibition, A Walk Through the Paper Forest: Latino Prints and Drawings from El Museo del Barrio
- SEPT: El Museo del Barrio presents Taíno: Pre-Columbian Art and Culture from the Caribbean, the first large-scale exhibition of Taíno art in the United States, accompanied by the first comprehensive publication on the subject written in English
- The museum launches Classroom Connections aimed at increasing engagement with communities from NYC’s multi-ethnic Latino neighborhoods. Artists and educators from five schools design lesson plans related to themes from the exhibition, Taíno: Pre-Columbian Art and Culture from the Caribbean. Throughout the school year, artists conduct workshops at the schools
- El Batey: The Goya Family Activity Center opens at the museum as an interactive area for children to work on activities related to Taíno mythology, craftsmanship, and science
- El Museo del Barrio’s current website www.elmuseo.org is launched
- The Conceptual Trend: Six Artists from Mexico City
- The Veiled Mirrors: Recent Works by Alicia Creus
- Bio* (as in Biography, Biology, and Biogenesis)
Collaboration with Colombian Consulate, New York - A Walk Through the Paper Forest: Latino Prints and Drawings from El Museo del Barrio
Travels: Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia; Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, Maine; Historical Society of Rockland County, New City, New York; Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio; Queens Public Library Gallery, Jamaica, New York; Rockwell Museum, Corning, New York; Metropolitan State College of Denver, Denver, Colorado; and Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York - Re-Aligning Vision: Alternative Currents in South American Drawing
Organized by The Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, College of Fine Arts, The University of Texas at Austin - Explor-A: The Art of the Family
Collaboration with Central Park Conservancy - Taíno: Pre-Columbian Art and Culture from the Caribbean
- The Taíno Legacy
- Nativity Scenes
- Contemporánea Series
Jorge Crespo: Coaybay/Site of the Afterlife
1998
- The museum begins to use a logo – its third – designed by Jonathan Wajskol, featuring a slanted “M”
- APR: The FOCOS series, dedicated to under-recognized mature artists inaugurates with a solo show of Carmen Herrera
- MAY: Puerto Ricans for the Next Millennium (PRFM), comprised of artists, educators, and community leaders, express their disappointment regarding the omission of “Puerto Ricans” in the 1996 mission statement. They request that Puerto Ricans, as the founding community, be specifically mentioned in the mission, and that the museum preserve itself as a Puerto Rican institution
- SUMMER: Renovations of the Theatre, including conservation of Willy Pogany’s murals
- JUN 9: In collaboration with Creative Time Inc., the museum celebrates the 20th Museum Mile Festival with a performance and site-specific installation of El Mexterminator-Techno-Museo de Etnografía Interactiva by artist Guillermo Gómez Peña
- Brian Nissen: Chinampas
- Contemporánea Series
Diamantina González: Recurrent Memories - FOCOS Series
Carmen Herrera: The Black and White Paintings 1951-1989 | (View exhibition catalog) - Charlas: Young Women in Dialogue, part of Re-visions of El Barrio
Collaboration with International Center of Photography - FOCOS Series
Beatriz González: What An Honor To Be With You At This Historic Moment, Works 1965-1997 - Guillermo Gómez Peña: El Mexterminator-Techno-Museo de Etnografía
Collaboration with Creative Time Inc. - Contemporánea Series
Rubén Torres Llorca: So Quiet in Here - Caribbean Classics: Fernando Ortiz and the History of Afro-Cuban Music
- Contemporánea Series
Bibiana Suarez: Domino/Dominó - The Art of Jack Delano
Organized by Smithsonian Institution Travelling Exhibition Service - Gods, Spirits, and Legends: Twentieth Century Art in El Salvador
Collaboration with Friends from El Salvador - Casitas: Gardens of Reclamation
1999
- APR: The first edition of The (S) Files/The Selected Files (later renamed El Museo’s Bienal) presents the work of emerging Puerto Rican, Latino, Caribbean, and Latin American artists living and working in the New York area, selected from submissions to El Museo’s Artists Archives
- SUMMER: The museum is closed over the summer due to renovations
- SEPT: In celebration of its 30th anniversary, the museum re-opens with programming commemorating artists/activists, through exhibitions dedicated to Pepón Osorio, Juan Sánchez and the graphic arts show, Pressing the Point
- Contemporánea Series
Marta Chilindrón: Cinema Kinesis - The (S) Files/The Selected Files
- Caribbean and Latin American Traditional Arts series (Part I)
Puerto Rican Santos de Palo: Sculptures Between Heaven and Earth; Altares de los Orishas: Afro-Caribbean Sacred Spaces; Buscando Milagros/ Searching for Miracles: Photographs by Héctor Méndez Caratini - Site/Studio/Street Festival
Presented at Off-site projects in El Barrio - Dead Time: Elizam Escobar, Antonio Martorell and Dread Scott
Presented at Centro Cultural Julia de Burgos, NY - Pepón Osorio: TRANSBORICUA
Phase I: Tertulias in El Barrio
Phase II: Youngworld Children’s Dept. Store (part of Site/Studio/Street Festival)
Phase III: El Museo del Barrio - Pressing the Point: Parallel Expressions in the Graphic Arts of the Chicano and Puerto Rican Movements
Collaboration with Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas at Austin - Juan Sánchez: Printed Convictions. Prints and Related Works on Paper
Organized by The Jersey City Museum - A Tribute to En Foco: 25 Years of Making Photographic History
- Caribbean and Latin American Traditional Arts Series (Part II)
Between Heaven and Earth: Devotional Art from Puerto Rico and Mexico; Our Lady of the Apocalypse: The Virgin of Guadalupe and Other Miracles - Día de los Muertos Altar
- ¡Vivan los Muertos!
- Nacimiento
00's
2000
- FEB: The Board of Trustees approved the current mission statement that acknowledges the special role of the Puerto Rican founding community while including people of diverse Latin American heritages: “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”
- OCT: The museum presents Taíno: Ancient Voyagers of the Caribbean, a long-term presentation of pre-Columbian art from the Caribbean, including objects from the Permanent Collection as well as other public and private collections
- Latin American Still Life: Reflections of Time and Place
Organized by Katonah Museum of Art, New York - Contemporánea Series
Franco Mondini-Ruiz: Mexique - Carlos Irizarry: The Sixties Plus Picasso, A Suite of Prints from the Permanent Collection
- Re-Visions of El Barrio 2000
- The (S) Files/The Selected Files [2nd Edition]
- Contemporánea Series
Ernesto Pujol: Conversion of Manners - Santiago-Hoge: ¡Llegaron los Muertos! Monumentos para los que viven en nuestro corazón
- Taíno: Ancient Voyagers of the Caribbean/Taíno: Antiguos Viajeros del Caribe
- Latin American Artists-Photographers from the Lehigh University Art Galleries Collection
Organized by Lehigh University Art Galleries - Mexican Folk Masks from the Permanent Collection of El Museo del Barrio
Presented at the Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, NY - Nacimiento
2001
- JUN: The catalogue accompanying the exhibition Voices from Our Communities: Perspectives on a Decade of Collecting at El Museo del Barrio, includes the first published institutional timeline, the start from which this presentation and other previous research began
- Here & There/Aquí y Allá: Six Artists from San Juan
Travels: The Blaffer Art Gallery, The University of Houston, TX - FOCOS Series
Antonio Frasconi’s “Let America Be America Again” - Contemporánea Series
Leandro Erlich: Neighbors - Puerto Rican Santos de Palo: Sculptures Between Heaven and Earth
Presented at The Newark Museum - Voices from Our Communities: Perspectives on a Decade of Collecting at El Museo del Barrio
- Contemporánea Series
Ingrid Méndez: Permanent Visibility - Clemente Flores: Recuerdos de El Barrio/ Memories of El Barrio
Youth Gallery - O Fio da Trama/ The Thread Unraveled: Contemporary Brazilian Art
Travels: Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires-Colección Constantini/MALBA | (View exhibition catalog)
2002
- JAN: The museum hosts 25th Annual Three Kings Day Parade
- JUN 11: We Are Watching You campaign stages protest during the Museum Mile Festival regarding the selection of the museums next Executive Director, and circulates An Open Letter About the Future of El Museo del Barrio, resulting in the appointment of community members to the Board of Trustees
- JUL: Patricia “Trix” Smalley, Deputy Commissioner for Cultural Affairs, is appointed Interim Director (through November)
- SEPT: Organized for the Heckscher Museum of Art, the exhibition, Treasures from El Museo del Barrio, serves as the pilot for the Permanent Collection’s traveling show, Voces y Visiones, which opens the following year
- NOV 18: Julián Zugazagoitia is appointed Executive Director (through Summer 2010)
- Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Twentieth-Century Mexican Art: The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection
Collaboration with The Vergel Foundation; Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes (INBA) and The Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores (SRE), México - Treasures from El Museo del Barrio
Presented at the Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, NY - The (S) Files/The Selected Files [3rd Edition]
2003
- In celebration of its 35th anniversary, the museum presents Voces y Visiones: Highlights from El Museo’s Permanent Collection, an exhibition which travels across the country and to the Dominican Republic during the next three years. The museum also publishes a multi-volume publication dedicated to its history and Permanent Collection, divided into the following volumes: El Museo del Barrio, 1969-2004 (view catalog); Modern & Contemporary; Popular Traditions; Graphics; and Taíno; in 2006, a sixth volume dedicated to Contemporary Works by Dominican Artists is added
- FOCOS Series
Rafael Tufiño: Painter of the People/ Pintor del Pueblo
Collaboration with Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico - Voces y Visiones: Highlights from El Museo del Barrio’s Permanent Collection
Travels: Tampa Museum of Art, FL; Parrish Art Museum, NY; Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, NY; Seton Hall University, NJ; Centro Cultural León Jiménez Santiago, Dominican Republic; and the Currier Museum of Art, NH
2004
- After several years of fundraising, El Museo del Barrio commences a major capital project to renovate its facility at the Heckscher Building, including the Fifth Avenue façade, the 104th street entrance, the lobby, and the museum shop
- The museum co-organizes major exhibitions, MoMA at El Museo and the nationally touring Retratos
- MoMA at El Museo: Latin American and Caribbean Art from the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art
- New Works from the Permanent Collection
- No lo llames performance/Don’t Call It Performance
Organized by Paco Barragan - Retratos: 2,000 Years of Latin American Portraits
Co-organized with the San Antonio Museum of Art, TX Travels: San Diego Museum of Art, CA; Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, FL; Smithsonian, National Portrait Gallery, Washington D.C.; and San Antonio Museum of Art, TX
2005
- The firehouse is sold
- SEPT: Artists living and working from the invited “guest country” of Puerto Rico are included for the first time as part of the 4th edition of The (S) Files, renamed El Museo’s Bienal: The (S) Files
- Mexico: The Revolution and Beyond, Photographs by Casasola, 1900-1940
Organized by Canopia and Turner in collaboration with Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) and Fototeca Nacional de Pachuca, Mexico - Points of View: Photography in El Museo del Barrio’s Permanent Collection
- El Museo’s Bienal: The (S) Files/ The Selected Files 2005 [4th Edition]
Travels: Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, Santurce
2006
- FALL: Conceived as a “celebration of Dominican artistic talent,” the museum presents the exhibitions, ¡Merengue! and This Skin I’m In. The latter exhibition features artworks by artists recently acquired for the Permanent Collection, the first dedicated collection of its kind in any New York or U.S. institution
- Between the Lines: Text As Image, An Homage to Lorenzo Homar and The Reverend Pedro Pietri
- Felix González-Torres: Early Impressions
Organized by the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña for the Trienal Poli/ Gráfica de San Juan: America Latina y Caribe | (View exhibition catalog) - Héctor Méndez Caratini: The Eye of Memory – Three Decades, 1974-2003
Collaboration with the Museo de Arte de Ponce, Puerto Rico - ¡Merengue! Visual Rhythms/ Ritmos Visuales
Organized by the Centro Cultural Eduardo León Jimenes, Santiago, Dominican Republic - This Skin I’m In: Contemporary Dominican Art from El Museo del Barrio’s Permanent Collection
2007
- JUL: The 5th edition of El Museo’s Bienal: The (S) Files includes a showcase of works by artists from Ecuador, the invited guest country
- The Disappeared (Los Desaparecidos)
Organized by the North Dakota Museum of Art - El Museo’s Bienal: The (S) Files/ The Selected Files 2007 [5th Edition]
- Art Agora: El Museo 5th Bienal: The (S) Files
Presented at Instituto Cervantes de Nueva York
2008
- WINTER: The groundbreaking exhibition, Arte ≠ Vida opens, accompanied by performances by Latino and Latin American artists including Tania Bruguera; Raphael Montañez Ortiz; and Tunga, among others
- SUMMER: During the Museum Mile Festival, staff and volunteers recreate Lotty Rosenfeld’s A Mile of Crosses
- Arte ≠ Vida: Actions by Artists of the Americas, 1960-2000
Travels: Museo Carrillo Gil, México City; Museo Amparo, Puebla; Museo de Arte del Banco de la República, Bogotá - Heresies by Pedro Meyer
2009
- The museum begins to use a logo – its fourth – designed by Miguel Sal
- The Super Sábado family programming series commences
- FALL: In celebration of the 40th anniversary, the museum presents the landmark exhibition Nexus New York to inaugurate its newly renovated facilities: the lobby, Las Galerías, La Tienda, and the addition of El Café. The exhibition series, Voces y Visiones, dedicated to the Permanent Collection, opens concurrently in the newly named Carmen Ana Unanue Galleries
- Nexus New York: Latin/American Artists in the Modern Metropolis
- Voces y Visiones: Four Decades through El Museo del Barrio’s Permanent Collection
- Around the Way
Presented at Macy’s Herald Square, 8th Floor
10's
2010
- JAN: Polina Porras creates new 12-foot tall puppets of Kings Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar representing the three realms of the Taíno cosmos; the puppets debut during the 33rd Annual Three Kings Day Parade
- SPRING: El Museo del Barrio hosts the landmark Chicano art exhibition Phantom Sightings: Art After the Chicano Movement, the only East Coast venue to present the show
- SUMMER: Georgina Nichols, Chief Finance Officer, is appointed Interim Director (through summer 2011)
- Phantom Sightings: Art After the Chicano Movement
Organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Chicano Studies Research Center of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - Retro/Active: The Work of Rafael Ferrer
- Nueva York: 1613-1945
Organized by the New York Historical Society - Voces y Visiones: Signs, Systems & the City in El Museo del Barrio’s Permanent Collection
2011
- FEB: Artist Luis Camnitzer’s A Museum is a School is installed on the façade of the Heckscher Building as part of his monographic exhibition
- JUL 14: El Museo del Barrio presents the 6th edition of El Museo’s Bienal: The (S) Files, taking place at multiple venues across the city, including Times Square. The exhibition also includes works from the most recent Biennial of the Central American Isthmus
- AUG: Margarita Aguilar, who served as El Museo del Barrio’s Curator from 1998 to 2006, is appointed Executive Director (through February 2013)
- Designer Emilio Sosa creates new costumes for the Three Kings Day Parade inspired by the historic figures Anacaona, Miguel de Cervantes, and Arturo Schomburg
- FOCOS Series | Luis Camnitzer
Organized by Daros Latinamerica, Zurich - El Museo’s Bienal: The (S) Files 2011 [6th edition] | (View exhibition catalog)
Collaboration with multiple venues: Chashama, Donell Library; Socrates Sculpture Park, Queens; Lehman College Art Gallery, Bronx; Times Square Alliance; Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance; BRIC Rotunda Gallery, Brooklyn; as well as performances at New York Restoration Project Gardens throughout New York City - Voces y Visiones: Gran Caribe
2012
- SUMMER: In collaboration with the Queens Museum of Art, The Studio Museum in Harlem, and a curatorial team of invited scholars, the museum organizes the landmark exhibition and accompanying publication, Caribbean: Crossroads of the World, after nearly a decade of collaborative research, scholarship, and site visits across the Caribbean
- Testimonios: 100 Years of Popular Expression
- Caribbean: Crossroads of the World | (View exhibition catalog)
Collaboration with the Queens Museum of Art and the Studio Museum in Harlem - Caribe Now
Presented at Nathan Cummings Foundation, New York
2013
- FEB: Gonzalo Casals, Director of Education and Public Programs, is appointed Deputy Director
- AUG: Museum supports East Harlem and South Bronx mural project, Los Muros Hablan NYC, organized by La Respuesta, a Puerto Rican cultural center
- OCT: Carlos Gálvez, former Director of Capital Projects and Operations, is appointed Deputy Executive Director (current)
- DEC: Jorge Daniel Veneciano is appointed Executive Director (through August 2016)
- superreal: alternative realities in photography and new media
- Voces y Visiones: Highlights from the Collection of El Museo del Barrio, New York
Presented at Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV - Presencia: Works from the Permanent Collection
- El Museo’s Bienal 2013: HERE IS WHERE WE JUMP [7th Edition]
Accompanied by weekly series of gallery talks by participating artists titled RADIANCE: After Hours at El Museo
2014
- Artist Nicolás Dumnit Estévez develops OFFICE HOURS (OH), an evolving project that presents the museum as a holistic work of art and includes a series of actions including: Back in Five Minutes (artist-in-residence program), Over the Table (portfolio review), En Familia: El Museo as Genealogy, El Museo As Classroom/ City As School, Friends of Friends, and Creative Disruptions
- SPRING: As part of OFFICE HOURS (OH), the museum launches Back in Five Minutes, its Artist Residency Program, with artists Coco López, Antonia Pérez, Mauricio Arango, and Alicia Grullón; over the course of the year, Latin@ artists of Caribbean descent living in New York City are invited to generate a new body of work within Las Galerías
- OCT: The museum launches its Women Artists Retrospective Series with the exhibition, MARISOL: Sculptures and Works on Paper
- A mural by artist Manuel Acevedo is installed in El Café
- The Museum Starter Kit: Open With Care
- Playing with Fire: Political Interventions, Dissident Acts, and Mischievous Actions
Accompanied by CROSSFIRE: Artist Interviews - El Museo del Barrio’s Women Artist Retrospective Series
MARISOL: Sculptures and Works on Paper
Organized by Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN - Maximiliano Siñani I Beetles
2015
- DEC: The museum partners with Arts & Minds to present New York’s first Spanish language museum program that engages individuals with memory loss in meaningful art-centered activities
- Artists Karina Aguilera Skvirsky, Ayana Evans, Jessica Lagunas, and Glendalys Medina participate in the Back in Five Minutes Artist Residencies
- UNDER THE MEXCIAN SKY: Gabriel Figueroa – Art and Film
Collaboration with Televisa Foundation - ¡PRESENTE! The Young Lords in New York
Collaboration with The Bronx Museum of the Arts and Loisaida Inc.| (View exhibition brochure) - CUT N’ MIX: Contemporary Collage
- El Museo del Barrio’s Women Artists Retrospective Series
RODRIGUEZ CALERO: Urban Martyrs and Latter Day Santos - #CarvingThroughBorders
Cuéntame Gallery
Collaboration with CultureStrike - Navideño: Three Kings and Nativities from El Museo’s Permanent Collection
- HOMENAJE: The Traveling Exhibit Honoring Our Puerto Rican and Nuyorican Heroes
Organized by Ricardo Muñiz - Figure and Form: Recent Acquisitions to the Permanent Collection
2016
- MAR 2: El Museo del Barrio launches the bilingual immersion program Coquí Club, serving the museum’s youngest visitors, ages 1-4
- Artists Francisca Benítez and María de los Ángeles participate in the Back in Five Minutes Artist Residencies
- Installations by artists Jillian Mayer, Sarah Zapata, and Joiri Minaya are presented in El Café and in the lobby of the museum
- El Museo@SVA
- The Illusive Eye
- ANTONIO LOPEZ: Future Funk Fashion
- Paper Hotshots
Presented at Blackburn 20|20 Gallery
Collaboration with EFA Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop
2017
- MAY: Patrick Charpenel is appointed Executive Director (current)
- NOV: Las Galerías close for renovations
- Artists Carlos Jesús Martínez Dominguez, Lourdes Bernard, and Claudia Alvarez participate in the Back in Five Minutes Artist Residencies
- Installations by artist Miguel Trelles and Melissa Calderón are presented in El Café and lobby of the museum
- unoXuno series: videoarte
Rotative Repository of Latin American Video Art: Mono Canal - El Museo del Barrio’s Women Artists Retrospective Series
Beatriz Santiago Muñoz: A Universe of Fragile Mirrors
Organized by the Pérez Art Museum, Miami - A Glyph, A Tool, An Icon: Beatriz Santiago Muñoz’ Selections from El Museo del Barrio’s Permanent Collection
- New to You: Recent Acquisitions to El Museo del Barrio’s Permanent Collection
- Fearless Latin/x América: SIDA + Violencia + Acción
Collaboration with Visual Aids & Residency Unlimited - unoXuno series
Hugo X Bastidas: Historical Portraits
Presented at various locations throughout East Harlem: Harley Smoke Shack; El Nuevo Caridad; Sandy; El Tapatio; La Taqueria del Barrio; Guajillo Mexican Kitchen; El Agave Deli and Grocery; ELN Corporation; Pipo’s Mexican Restaurant; Mexico Travel - OCCUPY MUSEUMS: Debtfair
- UPTOWN! nasty women/ bad hombres
Collaboration with The Wallach Art Gallery at Columbia University’s first Uptown triennial - El Museo del Barrio’s Women Artists Retrospective Series
Nkame: A Retrospective of Cuban Printmaker Belkis Ayón
Organized by the Belkis Ayón Estate, Havana, Cuba and Fowler Museum at UCLA | (View exhibition catalogue) - Dreaming Up North: Children on the Move Across the Americas
Collaboration with Colectiva Infancias, and a network of social anthropologists and photographers
2018
- WINTER-SUMMER: During gallery renovations, the museum presents exhibitions at the School of Visual Arts in Chelsea; the Hunter East Harlem Galleries in El Barrio; and Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture in the South Bronx
- SEPT 13: The galleries reopen with the exhibitions Down These Mean Streets: Community and Place in Urban Photography and Liliana Porter: Other Situations following a ten month-long Gallery Environmental Stabilization Project. The renovations include updates to the mechanical and control systems, including heating, air-conditioning and humidification
- OCT 25-26: The museum co-sponsors THEM, the first U.S. theatrical performance by co-directors Liliana Porter and Ana Tiscornia
- May Contain Moving Parts
Presented at School of Visual Arts Chelsea Gallery - QUEENIE: Selected artworks by female artists from El Museo del Barrio’s Collection
Presented at Hunter East Harlem Gallery - REVIVAL: Contemporary Pattern & Decoration
Presented at Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture - Down These Mean Streets: Community and Place in Urban Photography
Organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum - El Museo del Barrio’s Women Artists Retrospective Series
Liliana Porter: Other Situations
Organized by Savannah College of Art and Design - Liliana Porter: THEM
Presented at The Kitchen; collaboration with Savannah College of Art and Design
2019
- FEB: El Teatro re-opens with a performance by Eddie Palmieri, following a fifteen-month renovation including state of the art technology and substantial conservation work to the historic elements of the space
- SPRING: The Mirror Manifesto, a self-described working document circulates online with signatures from artists, curators, and community members, noting concerns with the “future of El Museo del Barrio and who it belongs to”
- APR 11: Culture and The People: El Museo del Barrio, 1969-2019, kicks off the 50th anniversary celebration of the founding of the museum
- MAY 1-5: El Museo del Barrio curates Diálogos, the first section at Frieze art fair focused on art by contemporary Latinx and Latin American artists
- MAY 2: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio issues a proclamation declaring May 2nd “El Museo del Barrio Day”
- Lucio Fontana: Spatial Environment (1968)
Collaboration with The Met Breuer and Fondazione Lucio Fontana - Culture and The People: El Museo del Barrio, 1969-2019
Part I: Selections from the Permanent Collection
Part II: An Institutional Timeline
20's
2020
- El Museo del Barrio is announced as one of America’s Cultural Treasures by the Ford Foundation
- MARCH: El Museo del Barrio closes due to the COVID-19 pandemic
- The online bilingual initiative, El Museo en Tu Casa is launched
- MAY: For the second year, El Museo del Barrio curates the section Dialogos, focused on art by contemporary Latinx and Latin American artists for Frieze Viewing Room. The section is moved online when the fair is cancelled due to the COVID-10 pandemic
- JUNE: “From the Archives,” featuring full text reproductions of select exhibition catalogues and brochures published over the course of El Museo’s 50 year history, is made available to the public online
- Popular Painters & Other Visionaries, El Museo’s first online exhibition
- Taller Boricua: A Political Print Shop in New York
- The Memorial…A Donation by Raphael Montañez Ortiz
- ESTAMOS BIEN: La Trienal 20/21 Online Artist’s Projects, featuring Lizania Cruz, Poncili Creación, xime izquierdo ugaz, Collective Magpie, and Michael Menchaca
2021
- MARCH: El Museo del Barrio opens ESTAMOS BIEN, its inaugural national trienal, featuring over 42 Latinx artists from across the United States and Puerto Rico
- SEPTEMBER: To celebrate the close of ESTAMOS BIEN, a day of performances by artists Yelaine Rodriguez and Carolina Caycedo is held, marking the museum’s first large-scale in-person experience since the COVID-19 pandemic
- NOVEMBER: El Museo del Barrio presents the photographic collective En Foco’s first portfolio, The New York Puerto Rican Experience, in full for the first time
2022
- APRIL: El Museo del Barrio opens the retrospective of its founder, artist Raphael Montañez Ortiz
- SEPTEMBER: To celebrate the close of his retrospective, artist Raphael Montañez Ortiz performs a new Paper Bag Destruction Concert in El Teatro
2023
- MAY: El Museo del Barrio opens its most comprehensive permanent collections exhibition, Something Beautiful: Reframing La Colección, in more than two decades. The show offers frameworks to the museum’s holdings of more than 8,500 objects