El Museo del Barrio

03/23/2020

Noel Valentin: Guardian | OUR HISTORY

Enjoy an interview with El Museo Permanent Collection Manager, Noel Valentin as he discusses his love of art (and the Permanent Collection)! .
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For full interview see ⛓below | 🎥 guardian, Noel Valentin | Supported by the @henrylucefoundation @createtheremarkable | #QuedateEnCasa #DistanciamientoSocial #ElMuseoenTuCasa

'Guardian' Noel Valetin Permanent Collection Manager, El Museo del Barrio Video Production: Create The Remarkable, Inc.| El Museo del Barrio’s Oral History P...

03/21/2020

#QuedateEnCasa #DistanciamientoSocial #ElMuseoenTuCasa

STAY HOME.

Your social distancing can save lives right now. Do your part, New York City.

03/20/2020

Eddie Palmieri: El Teatro Reopening Celebration | EVENTS

EL MUSEO EN TU CASA...
Enjoy a live performance by salsa legend @eddiepalmieri at El Museo del Barrio! The concert was held in February 2019 to celebrate the reopening of El Teatro. #MuseumFromHome #MuseumMomentsofZen #salsa #elbarrio #eddiepalmieri

El Museo del Barrio is pleased to celebrate the re-opening El Teatro (Heckscher Theater) with a special performance by salsa legend and El Barrio native, Edd...

03/19/2020

#COLLECTION | Taino chiefs owned and displayed scepters and daggers as symbols of authority. These accessories were based on petaloid celt, a tool common to many pre-Columbian cultures. Celts made from crude stones were hafted into wooden shafts to become axes that were used to clear fields, fell trees, and make canoes. But the ceremonial scepters and daggers made for caciques (chiefs) were carved from fine-grained dark stones and semiprecious greenstones, and mimic the shape of a utilitarian ax.

The example in the Permanent Collection is exquisitely fashioned as a shark. Viewed horizontally, the “celt” portion represents the dorsal and pectoral fins of the fearsome ocean predator. The sea-green color of the stone enhances the symbolism of the form. Many plain scepters may also have been intended as sharks; at least two have the same mouth markings seen here.

Greater Antilles, 1200-1500 A.D., Ceremonial Ax (Hacha Ceremonial), Stone, 5 ¼ x 9 ½ x 1 inches (13.3 x 24.1 x 2.5cm), Acquired with funds generously donated by Joe and Carmen Ana Unanue, Collection of El Museo del Barrio.

03/16/2020

En Casa con El Museo...

Want to learn more about El Barrio? Listen to El Barrio locals and New York City legends reflect on their experiences on various must see historical destinations in our neighbhohood! Featuring artists Papoleto Melendez and Manny Vega explore the significance of the mural "The Spirit of East Harlem", and legends Pedro Pietri, Julia de Burgos and more.

For podcasts and more info visit www.elmuseo.org/el-barrio

03/13/2020

Photo courtesy Luis Camnitzer ©

03/13/2020

Familia,

Since the arrival of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) to New York City, we have all been experiencing a challenging and stressful moment. As a public facing cultural institution with roots in East Harlem, the health and well being of our community is of the utmost importance. We have been in communication with local residents, elected officials, fellow museums and cultural organizations, and agree that we must put the community's health and wellbeing first, which means making difficult decisions

In the interest of ensuring the safety of our community, El Museo del Barrio has made the decision to temporarily close, effective Friday, March 13 at 6pm. Albeit difficult, we arrived to this conclusion, bearing in mind what is best for the health and wellness of our visitors and staff, which is our top priority. The Museum's administrative offices will remain open with remote access by staff.

With this closure, El Museo del Barrio will also be postponing all programming, until further notice, and will strive to reschedule these programs for a future date. For a list of programs that will be rescheduled, please click here.

While there are still many uncertainties regarding COVID-19, we are monitoring the situation closely. For the latest information and updates on upcoming exhibitions, programs, and our plans to reopen, please visit our website routinely and follow us on social media channels (Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook).

We are confident that, together, we will be able to get through this extraordinary and unfortunate time, and recognize that the impact on all of our daily lives is immeasurable. El Museo del Barrio is your home and we are determined to foster a healthy and safe environment. We appreciate your understanding and support, and look forward to welcoming all of you back to the El Museo del Barrio, in the near future to celebrate the opening of Taller Boricua: A Political Print Shop in New York.

We wish you are your loved ones the best of health during this critical time.

El Museo del Barrio

03/11/2020

Activist Museum Director Named Cultural Affairs Commissioner

Felicidades to Gonzalo Casals, a part of El Museo's extended familia, on his recent appointment as the new Commissioner of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs!

His commitment to underrepresented communities and understanding of the importance of the arts as an agent for social change was evident during his tenure at El Museo. We are confident his energy and passion for community engagement will continue in this important city-wide role.

We wish him all the best on this journey and hope to continue to work together to make the arts accessible for all!

Gonzalo Casals of the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art wants to increase opportunities for people like him, in “immigrant communities, queer communities, Latinx communities.”

02/24/2020

#ARTE | In celebration of Taller Boricua’s 50th anniversary, El Museo del Barrio is pleased to present ‘Taller Boricua: A Political Print Shop in New York,’ the first monograph exhibition in three decades about the East Harlem-based Nuyorican collective workshop and alternative space. Best known for its cultural and political activism, the organization produced and circulated hundreds of prints by artists, advocating for issues of Puerto Rican independence, workers’ rights, and anti-imperialism both locally and in the Caribbean and Latin America.

Curated by Rodrigo Moura, Chief Curator of El Museo del Barrio, the exhibition will be comprised of nearly 200 works and ephemera, including serigraphs, lithographs, linocuts, paintings, sculptures, and drawings by founding and early members, including Carlos Osorio (1927-1984), Jorge Soto Sánchez (1947-1987), Marcos Dimas, Nitza Tufiño, and Rafael Tufiño (1922-2008), among others. Works in the show draws from El Museo’s and other institutional collections, as well as from the Taller’s extensive archives. .

INFO: Taller Boricua: A Political Print Shop in New York OPENS March 25, 2020 at El Museo del Barrio

🎨 Marcos Dimas, Lolita Lebron, Puerto Rican Freedom Fighter, ca. 1971, Collection of El Museo del Barrio. | #nuyorican #elbarrio #puertorico #tallerboricua #lolitalebron

02/19/2020

#ARTE | “Mexican artists had the most profound and pervasive influence on American art of the 20th century,” realizing it was “North to South rather than East to West” - Barbara Haskell, @whitneymuseum .
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“Siqueiros and the Experimental Workshop: Siqueiros returned to the United States in 1934 and again in 1936, both times to New York. During the latter stay, he established the Experimental Workshop near Union Square as a laboratory for modern aesthetic techniques, keeping with his conviction that artists could not make revolutionary art using the techniques and materials of the past—that they “must live our marvelous dynamic age,” as he put it. Under Siqueiros’s direction, workshop members experimented with unorthodox materials and new ways of creating art, among them pouring and dripping paint onto canvas tacked to the floor. The workshop had a powerful effect on many artists, in particular Jackson Pollock, whose participation in the workshop introduced him to the possibilities of controlled accidents long before his adoption of the “drip technique” in 1947, which would make him one of the most renowned artists in postwar America.” - @whitneymuseum .
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INFO: ‘Vida Americana: Mexican Muralists Remake American Art, 1925–1945’ | On view through May 17, 2020 at the @whitneymuseum | 🎨 David Alfaro Siqueiros, Our Present Image, 1947. | #mexicanart #latinamerica #

02/14/2020

Familia, due to an electrical issue in the building El Museo del Barrio will close TODAY (Friday) at 4pm. We apologize for any inconvenience.

02/14/2020

Feliz Valentine’s Day from El Museo del Barrio! ❤️
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Still looking for a gift? Give the gift of membership to @elmuseo ! Visit elmuseo.org/membership for more info | 🎨 Zilia Sanchez, Juana de Arco (Joan of Arc), 1987. On View NOW | #latinx #caribbean #arte #sanvalentin #amor #valentines

02/13/2020

#MUSICA | El Museo del Barrio, in partnership with Carnegie Hall Citywide is delighted to present a live performance by ÌFÉ at 4pm. Drummer, producer, singer, and Yoruba priest (or Babalawo) Otura Mun is the visionary creator of ÌFÉ, the Puerto Rico–based project that fuses Cuban rumba, sacred Yoruba praise songs, Jamaican dancehall music, and American R&B with cutting-edge electronica. With its ensemble of singers and dancers, ÌFÉ conjures trance-like moods that shift from otherworldly serenity to the raw and ecstatic. NPR’s Felix Contreras called ÌFÉ’s debut album IIII+IIII (2017) “one of those I can’t figure out how I ever lived without.” Hear ÌFÉ live and you will feel the same.
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INFO: A part of SUPER SABADO: Free Family Day at El Museo | Saturday, May 16, 2020 | 12pm - 5pm (concert is at 4pm) | FREE ADMISSION. First-come, First-served. | Photo by Joá Rodriguez

02/12/2020

#LOVE | Give the gift of Zilia Sanchez this year! Hailed as a “soulful hybridist” by the New Yorker, Sánchez is best known for her shaped canvases that evoke organic forms like the body and landscape.
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At La Tienda you can find a beautifully produced catalogue that offers a comprehensive look at Cuban artist Zilia Sánchez that traces her alluring and evocative paintings and sculpture from the 1950s to today. Be sure to add Add on there our new PRESENTE PASS for only $5 for a special gift of membership to El Museo!
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Visit La Tienda TODAY! and find your perfect Valentine's Day gift #amor #valentinesday #sanvalentin #gift #latinx #arte

02/10/2020

#PERMANENTCOLLECTION | Quisqueya Henriquez spins cliches into fresh paradigms. Her works challenge expectations about Caribbean art and life, and explore universal concerns including environmentalism, self-determination, transgression, and beauty.
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'Frozen Clothes' is a grid of photographs of frozen clothing with white background and frames. The work pivots on the assumption that Latin American culture is hot - rooted in the body and not the head. Therefore its protagonist is cold. Henriquez made this work about temperature extremes to explore cliches linking Caribbean climate and its residents' behavior or thinking, and equally formulaic thinking about cold places.
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🎨 Quisqueya Henriquez, Frozen Clothes (detail), 2001, Collection of El Museo del Barrio NYC | #arte #dominicanrepublic #cuba #latinx #caribbean

02/06/2020

#ZILIA | "Beginning in New York and especially since moving to Puerto Rico (with a stop in Madrid in between), Ms. Sánchez has constructed a universe of paintings whose forms echo a woman’s body, with attenuated, conical breasts, vulvar mounds and cylindrical lips seeming to emerge from the canvases; their visual associations are emphasized by zones of paint." - Jillian Steinhauer @jilnotjill for the @nytimes (for full review, see link in bio) ❤️
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INFO: On view NOW 'Zilia Sanchez: Soy Isla (I Am an Island)' organized by @phillipscollection | Pay-What-You-Wish | 📸 “Lunar con Tatuaje” (“Moon with Tattoo”) features two semicircular canvases with raised half-moons in the middle. Photo by Ike Edeani @edeani | #latinx #caribbean #latinamerica #arte #women #lgbtq

02/06/2020

#MEMBERSHIP | We invite you to join la familia at El Museo for only $5! Our new PRESENTE Pass offers visitors free admission for one, 10% off at La Tienda, invitations to exhibition openings for one, and discounts at select events at El Museo.
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El Museo del Barrio offers a range of membership opportunities, all of which include exclusive benefits and invitations to private member events. Your contribution helps to present and preserve El Museo’s permanent collection and supports exhibitions, performing art events, cultural celebrations and educational programs.
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INFO: To purchase your membership TODAY, visit www.elmuseo.org/membership | #familia #membership #presente #freeadmission #arte #latinx #latinamerica

02/05/2020

Gracias to The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation for selecting us as an awardee of the 4th annual art and social-justice grant! We are joined by an illustrious list of colleagues, and partners, who use art as a tool for advocacy and to effect social change. Pa'lante!

02/05/2020

#RENTALS | Our newly renovated El Teatro is available for concerts, graduations, off-broadway performances, film screenings, and more! Conveniently located in New York City’s renowned Museum Mile. El Museo provides a unique setting that combines breathtaking views of Central Park along with El Museo’s newly renovated, state of the art facilities.
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FUN FACT! El Museo's El Teatro interior contains scenes from children’s literature in a series of monumental murals designed in 1921 by gifted illustrator and painter Willy Pogany (1882-1955). Rendered in oil on canvas, his 14 incredible mural panels range in size up to approximately 16 x 25 feet and depict legendary children’s tales including Jack and the Beanstalk, Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, and Cinderella.
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INFO: For more information on hosting your next event at El Museo, see ⛓️in bio. | Photo by David Joseph. | #rentals #eventplanners #graduation #offbroadway #filmscreening #recital #concert

02/04/2020

#ACCESSIBILITY | Join us each month for Aprende Más! We invite our older adult community (65+) to join us every third Wednesday of the month to explore El Museo’s exhibitions, learn about art, share stories, and meet new friends through TWO special events.
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Gallery Highlights Tour | 11am-12pm
Join us for a free guided tour designed to connect older adults with El Museo's art exhibitions. Seating is provided.
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Art-Making Workshop | 3-4pm
Participate in a dynamic conversation about El Museo's works of art on view followed by an art-making workshop.
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INFO: Wednesday, February 19 at 11am and 3pm | Guests are asked to meet in El Museo's Lobby. To RSVP or for further information about this program, please contact Mark Araujo at [email protected] or at 212-831-7272 | FREE ADMISSION | #abuela #abuelo #abuelx #seniors #artseducation

02/03/2020

#PERMANENTCOLLECTION | "An existential preoccupation with being and not being, to some extent inspired in a crisis of an imaginary Puerto Rico in the U.S., kept alive by immigrants treated as outcasts by the dominant Puerto Rican culture and too ethnically and linguistically challenged by the United States-who found it necessary to create a substitute and hybrid culture from their imperfect memories. It became a way of resisting assimilation politically and culturally. This living art form became a living space because of the impossibility of going back through time." - ADÁL
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🎨 ADÁL, El Spanglish Sandwich and Spanglish Sandwich Bodega Bag from Prints for a Nation, 2000, Collection of El Museo del Barrio NYC. | #arte #nuyorican #puertorican #habichuelas #nyc #latinx #caribbean #identity

01/30/2020

#COQUI | Learn, play, explore, and grow during El Museo's monthly bilingual program for our tiniest visitors, COQUÍ CLUB! Join us on the first Saturday and Wednesday of every month as we embark on an adventure to discover new ways of interacting with art and each other. Recommended for children ages 1-4 and their caregivers.

This month, learn how two Cuban artists express colorful memories of their Caribbean island home. We will visit the galleries to see Zilia Sanchez's art work titled Topology, which explores color and shape. Next, we will read My Name is Celia by Monica Brown to learn about Celia Cruz, the trailblazing Afro-Cuban singer, and create a related art-making activity.

INFO: COQUÍ CLUB! at El Museo | Saturday, February 1 and Wednesday, February 5 | 9:30-10:30am & 11am-12pm | Free Admission (First-come, First-served basis.)

📸 El Museo’s Teaching Artist Idaliz Roman-Perez @romanida with Coqui Club participant

01/29/2020

#3K2020 | Earlier this month we celebrated our 43rd Annual Three Kings Day Parade honoring New York City's immigrant and migrant communities of past and present. More than 3,500 students, teachers, families and community members participated in the Parade, community breakfast and post parade performance with Los Pleneros de la 21.

Special thanks to all of you who participated this year and made this annual tradition truly special! If you missed the Parade, be sure to check out our Facebook LIVE hosted by TV producer and personality (and Honorary Madrina this year), Rhina Valentin.

SAVE THE DATE! 44th Annual Three Kings Day Parade will be held on Wednesday, January 6, 2021!!

Photos by Michael Palma Mir