gallery as studio: making space for artists inside el museo

the museum

rocío aranda-alvarado

Founder of El Museo del BarrioRaphael Montañez OrtizHenny Penny Piano Destruction Concert1966

Raphael Montañez Ortiz with Archaeological Find #22, 1961

Destruction in Art Symposium, London, 1966

The cultural disenfranchisement I experience as a Puerto Rican has prompted me to seek a practical alternative to the orthodox museum, which fails to meet my needs for an authentic ethnic experience. To afford me and others the opportunity to establish living connections with my own culture, I founded El Museo del Barrio.

—Raphael Montañez Ortiz

Raphael Montañez Ortiz, Mattress Destruction, 1962

Papo Colo (b. Santurce, Puerto Rico, 1946)Superman 511977Performance on West Side Highway

Founder of El Museo del Barrio Raphael Montañez Ortiz protesting in front of the Museum of Modern Artc. 1968

Frank Espada, Young Lords Free breakfast program, 1969

Frank Espada, Para la Junta, c. 1967; gelatin silver print; Courtesy of Jason Espada

West coast Chicanos and Nuyorican Young Lords protests

“....The entire time I was at the Julia de Burgos [school in East Harlem], I had no idea the school was named after Puerto Rico’s greatest poet, had no idea that Julia had emigrated to New York and that she lived in poverty while she wrote beautiful verses. She lived in El Barrio and had died on the street. But we weren’t taught about her, or any other Latin American poets for that matter. Since we were almost convinced that our race had no culture, no smart people, we behaved even worse…

Ernesto Quiñonez, Bodega Dreams

“The community needed a powerful cultural institution that would work to reveal its past, affirm and guide is present (critically and with respect) and inspire its future with integrity and intellectual authority.” Rafael Montañez Ortiz

the concept

nicolas dumit estévez raful

the logistics

sofía reeserel museo del barrio

EL MUSEO OPEN CALL

Antonia Perez Mauricio Arango

Artist Mauricio Arango’s documentation of residency work, Sept – Oct. 2014

Ayana Evans, Operation Cat suit, documentation in studio, 2016

Alicia Grullón, “Outside the Gates of “Culture,” 2014

Alicia Grullón, “Pick It!” participatory performance, 2015

Francisca Benitez, documentation of residency, 2016

Francisca Benitez, documentation of residency, 2016

Antonia Perez, with visitors in studio space, 2015

Maria de Los Angeles, Performance piece, documentation, 2016

Maria de Los Angeles, Residency space documentation, 2016

Coco López, documenting work in studio space, 2014

Antonia Perez, at work in studio space, 2015

the resident

jessica lagunas

thank you!