[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 25228]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 EL MUSEO DEL BARRIO'S 40TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOSE E. SERRANO

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 20, 2009

  Mr. SERRANO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize a milestone 
event in the cultural history of New York City. This month, El Museo 
del Barrio, New York's leading Latino cultural institution, celebrates 
its 40th Anniversary. There is much to be proud of when we speak of El 
Museo: the beautiful physical space it now occupies; the extraordinary 
talent it continues to attract; the superb quality of its collections; 
and the professionalism and dedication of its staff. But for me what 
stands out most about El Museo is that it has never stopped growing and 
evolving. Much like the community in which it makes its home, El Museo 
continues to reinvent itself for new waves of residents and new 
generations of New Yorkers.
  El Museo del Barrio was founded 40 years ago by Puerto Rican artist 
and educator Raphael Montailez Ortiz, who gathered together parents, 
artists, and activists, to address the absence of Puerto Rican and 
other Latino artists at larger mainstream institutions. Since its 
founding, El Museo has been dedicated to showcasing Latino culture. Its 
permanent collection includes over 6,500 objects which span more than 
800 years of Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino artistic expression. 
A wonderfully diverse body of art, this collection includes everything 
from pre-Columbian Taino artifacts to twentieth-century drawings and 
paintings, to prints, sculpture, photography and documentary film and 
video. Located at the corner of Fifth Avenue and E. 104th Street, El 
Museo is firmly situated on New York's illustrious Museum Mile, but is 
also far enough uptown to reach into Manhattan's historic El Barrio. 
Today, more than 100,000 people visit El Museo each year from all 
backgrounds and walks of life.
  On Saturday, October 17th, the museum will hosted an all day 
celebration and open house to mark the anniversary as well as the 
opening of El Museo's newly renovated facility. Two new exhibitions 
will be on display, one of which highlights four decades of El Museo's 
permanent collection. And to dramatize El Museo's impact on the 
cultural life of New York City, the Empire State Building was 
illuminated in the museum's signature mango-yellow color for the entire 
weekend, so the city as a whole could share in this momentous 
reopening.
  Madam Speaker, from humble beginnings in East Harlem's Puerto Rican 
community, this landmark of learning and wonder has emerged as a 
destination for people from all over the world. They come for many 
reasons: for the history that is taught, for the remarkable work on 
display, and, not the least of all, people come to El Museo to feel 
connected--connected to the past and the future of the Latino diaspora 
in this great international city. El Museo's holdings and exhibitions 
are a gift to all New Yorkers and to the world, and for this reason I 
ask that my colleagues join me in recognizing the 40th Anniversary of 
El Museo del Barrio.

                          ____________________