El Museo del Barrio’s Permanent Collection contains over 400 pre-Columbian objects, the majority of which are Taíno pan-Caribbean archaeological objects. These are primarily ceramic and stone objects from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. As well, the museum cares for select, related holdings of relevant pre-Taíno and post-conquest objects.

Unique in its scope and richness, El Museo del Barrio’s Permanent Collection of graphics today numbers over four thousand works. These include fine and popular prints, artistic posters, portfolios, and artists’ books. Because of the traditional emphasis on printmaking in Latin America, and the excellence of its artists in this medium, El Museo has a superb collection of graphics by diverse constituencies, particularly by Puerto Rican and Mexican creators. 

El Museo del Barrio has a wonderfully diverse collection of Caribbean and Latin American folk arts comprised of over five hundred secular and religious objects. These artifacts have been created in a broad range of materials and techniques. The most important ensembles in the Collection are the santos de palo and masks. Santos are carved wooden images of the saints of popular Catholicism. The santos de palo collection includes three hundred and sixty examples.

El Museo del Barrio’s Permanent Collection of Modern and Contemporary art includes paintings, sculpture and installation, photography, and mixed-media works. These holdings are, primarily, postwar expressions by Puerto Rican artists based both on the Island and in New York. The collection also includes selected Mexican, Central, and South American artists active in the contemporary New York art scene.