smithsonian latino art collections - Smithsonian Latino Center

In New York, The Copper-Hewitt National Design Museum created in 1995 the Latino/Hispanic
Design Archive to document the work of contemporary designers of Latino and Hispanic descent active
in the United States and to become the “national repository of documentary and visual materials on
Latino and Hispanic designers and their work…to facilitate research in the fields of industrial and graphic
design, architecture and interior design, urban planning, and the design of textiles, wallcoverings,
floorcoverings, jewelry, furniture, glass, ceramics, and theatrical and movie sets.” 66
While in Fiscal Year 1995 Latino Initiatives Pool funds in the amount of $842,644 went to seven
units, in Fiscal Year 1996 grants were made to 19 projects including large grants to SITES for the
development of Latino exhibitions, and to the NMAH and SAAM to transport and provide conservation
work to the Teodoro Vidal gift of a collection of about three thousand Puerto Rican artifacts, religious
art objects and artworks. 67 Arguably the turning point for the Latino Smithsonian collections was the
acquisition by gift of the Teodoro Vidal Collection in 1996 and 1997. Marvette Perez, curator at
American History negotiated on behalf of the Institution with Mr. Vidal to transfer his collection to the
National Museum of American History and the National Museum of American Art. The collection of
3,500 objects became the Vidal Collection at NMAH and a number of paintings by Jose Campeche,
religious art sculptures dating from the 17 th century on and miniatures became the Teodoro Vidal
Collection at the National Museum of American Art.
The establishment of the Smithsonian Institution Latino Oversight Committee with a two-year
tenure (1995-1997) in 1995, assisted with the implementation of some recommendations made by the
Smithsonian Latino Working Committee and the Task Force, and thus helped the Institution to cement
the foundation for a larger and more visible Hispanic and Latino presence in the Institution not only in
collections but in research and public programming as well. Members of the Committee included Tomás
Ybarra-Frausto, Chair (Rockefeller Foundation); Ana Sol Gutiérrez Co-Chair (Montgomery County Board
of Education); Miguel Bretos (now Counselor for Latino Affairs at the Smithsonian Institution); Luis R.
Cancel (Esperanto Internet Services); Gilberto Cárdenas (Inter-University Program for Latino Research,
University of Texas at Austin); Miriam Cruz (Equity Research Corporation); Stella Guerra-Nelson (Guerra
International, Ltd.); Esther Novak (Vanguard Communications); and as Ex Officio members U.S.
Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart; U.S. Congressman Henry Bonilla; U.S. Congressman José E. Serrano;
U.S. Congressman Esteban E. Torres; Raúl Yzaguirre (former Chair of the Smithsonian Task Force) and
Manuel Melendez (Observer, Smithsonian Institution). 68 John Huerta, a member of the Committee in its
early days, was named Smithsonian Institution General Counsel in November 1995. 69
In its mid-term report to Secretary Heyman issued on August 16, 1996, the Oversight Committee
noted the progress and the obstacles identified until then including the Institution’s “limited progress
towards the inclusion of Latinos.” It added, “commitment to change has come from the top, but
implementation lags far behind commitment in this very decentralized Institution. The current
decentralized decision making and inconsistent implementation of Latino initiatives by the various
museum directors may require that the Provost, together with Deputy Directors, carry out a more
forceful oversight and reporting function with regard to operational-level activities.” 70
66 Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Latino/Hispanic Design Archive/Archivo de Diseño Latino/Hispano.
Text on anterior inside cover.
67 Mid-Term Report of the Smithsonian Latino Oversight Committee.
68 Ibid.
69 Towards a Shared Vision: U.S. Latinos and the Smithsonian Institution, Final Report of the Latino Oversight
Committee. Smithsonian Institution, October 15, 1997; p. 77.
70 Mid-Term Report of the Smithsonian Latino Oversight Committee. August 1996, p. 3. Smithsonian Institution
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