smithsonian latino art collections - Smithsonian Latino Center

Ortega and Martín Ramírez. Similarly, in the 1990s the Chuck and Jan Rosenak gift/Luisita L. and Franz H.
Denghausen Endowment purchase augmented the collection with works by Tobias Anaya, Felipe Benito
Archuleta, Leroy Archuleta, Frank Brito, Nicholas Herrera, George Lopez, Gregorio Marzan, Jose
Mondragon, Enrique Rendon and Horacio Valdez.
The new decade promises to an exciting one with new initiatives, new programs, and new acquisitions.
The appointment of E. Carmen Ramos as associate curator of Latino art at the Smithsonian American Art
Museum in October 2010 marked the beginning of a new period in the history of the museum and its
Latino collections. As of December 2011, Dr. Ramos has acquired works by gift and purchase by artists
Carlos Almaraz, Margarita Cabrera, Christina Fernadez, Ignacio Gomez, Carmen Herrera, Delilah
Montoya, Ken Gonzales-Day, The Municipio de San Juan-Puerto Rico, Raphael M. Ortiz, Paul Henry
Ramirez, Sofie Rivera, Freddy Rodriguez, Emilio Sanchez, Ruben Trejo, Patssi Valdez, Kathy Vargas
among others. Plans for the exhibition Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art are well under
way for October 2013-March 2014. The exhibition “explores a key cornerstone in our national
narrative—that we are "a nation of immigrants"—by considering the varied contributions of Latino
artists to American art and culture from the mid-twentieth century to the present. Featuring more than
seventy works across all media by some of the leading contemporary artists working in the United
States, the exhibition will examine how their works express an unfolding and particular American
experience.” 1
In its quest to increase and diffuse knowledge, LVM conducts pan-institutional research on Smithsonian
Latino Collections and resources. The Latino & Hispanic Art Collections Index here presented highlights
the holdings of the following Smithsonian Institution units:
Archives of American Art
With over 16 million items in its continually growing collections, the Archives is the world’s largest and
most widely used resource dedicated to collecting and preserving the papers and primary records of the
visual arts in America.
http://www.aaa.si.edu/
Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution is the only museum in the nation
devoted exclusively to historic and contemporary design. The Museum presents compelling perspectives
on the impact of design on daily life through active educational and curatorial programming. It is the
mission of Cooper-Hewitt’s staff and Board of Trustees to advance the public understanding of design
across the twenty-four centuries of human creativity represented by the Museum’s collection.
http://cooperhewitt.org/
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
The Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is a leading voice for contemporary art and
culture and provides a national platform for the art and artists of our time. We seek to share the
transformative power of modern and contemporary art with audiences at all levels of awareness and
understanding by creating meaningful, personal experiences in which art, artists, audiences and ideas
converge. We enhance public understanding and appreciation of contemporary art through acquisition,
exhibitions, education and public programs, conservation, and research.
1 Smithsonian American Art Museum, Upcoming Exhibitions, Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art.
http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/archive/2013/our_america/
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