Fact Sheets

In 1997, the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents established the Smithsonian Latino Center, a unit of the Institution that works with the entire network of Smithsonian museums, research centers, the National Zoo and more than 160 affiliates nationwide to foster understanding and appreciation of contributions made by Latinos to history, society and culture. Over the past decade, the center has been the catalyst for more than 300 Latino-themed projects, from living exhibitions to live arts performances, underwritten with federal and private-sector support.

The Smithsonian Latino Center ensures that Latino contributions to art, science and the humanities are highlighted, understood and advanced through the development and support of public programs, scholarly research, museum collections and educational opportunities at the Smithsonian Institution and its affiliated organizations across the United States. 

Staff
The Smithsonian Latino Center consists of a small staff with expertise in the arts, education, new media, public program development and outreach. The director of the center is an advisor to the Secretary of the Smithsonian on the coordination of relations with U.S. Latino communities and organizations and works with the Secretary and Under Secretary of History, Art and Culture on
Latino-related issues and initiatives that affect the public and private sectors. 

National Latino Board
The center’s work is guided by the Smithsonian National Latino Board, which meets twice a year and currently includes 13 members who each serve a three-year term. Members represent diverse Latino groups and come from the public, private and education sector. Jesus Rangel currently serves as the chairman.

Educational Programs and Outreach

Young Ambassadors Program—A national leadership development program for high school seniors that cultivates the next generation of Latino leaders in the arts and culture fields through a one-week seminar at the Smithsonian with artists, curators, historians and other museum and arts professionals. Following the seminar, students return to museums and other cultural institutions in their local communities, including Smithsonian-affiliated organizations, for a four-week summer internship to gain practical experience and promote Latino heritage. The internship placements are in 12 cities across the United States and Puerto Rico.

Latino Museum Studies Program—A four-week program established in 1994 and designed to increase the representation, documentation, knowledge and interpretation of Latino art, culture and history. The seminar provides participants with the tools to enhance their leadership, research and creative skills through a series of lectures, workshops and practical experiences at the Smithsonian and other research facilities in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Fifteen mid-career professionals and graduate students are selected from a nationwide pool of applicants.  

The Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum—An avatar-based, 3-D learning environment that is focused on the representation of cultural heritage using cutting-edge technology. The Latino Virtual Museum is the first digital institution-wide initiative committed to improving access to Smithsonian Latino collections and exhibitions; it allows increased opportunities for research, interactive learning and innovative classroom instruction and curriculum development.

Recent Exhibitions

“Posters from the Division of Community Education (DIVEDCO) of Puerto Rico, 1949-1989”
As part of the 2008 program series “Puerto Rico at the Smithsonian,” the Smithsonian Latino Center presented this exhibition of iconic Puerto Rican graphic art. During a 40-year period, the island’s best-known graphic artists—Rafael Tufiño, Lorenzo Homar, José Meléndez Contreras and many others—were enlisted by a government agency known as DIVEDCO (División de Educación de la Comunidad). Their goal was to create art for social change. Brilliant, dramatic, colorful and didactic, these posters illustrate the island’s hopes and aspirations during the first pivotal decades of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. This exhibition was on view from Sept. 17, 2008 to Jan. 18 in the Concourse of the Smithsonian’s S. Dillon Ripley Center in Washington, D.C. It consisted of 40 posters selected by National Museum of American History curator Marvette Pérez from the 378 contained in the Puerto Rico Division of Education Poster Collection of the Archives Center at the museum.  

“Our Journeys/Our Stories: Portraits of Latino Achievement”
This bilingual photography exhibition explored the diversity of the Latino experience in the United States through the extraordinary lives of Hispanic men and women. Twenty-five portraits depicted outstanding Latinos, including Nobel laureates, scientists, artists, athletes, entrepreneurs, politicians and community activists. “Our Journeys/Our Stories” premiered at the National Museum of American History in February 2004 and traveled around the country; it closed at the Michigan State University Museum Jan. 4, 2009. The exhibition, its national tour and related programs were made possible by Ford Motor Company Fund. 

“Legacy: Spain and the United States in the Age of Independence, 1763-1848”
Developed in partnership with the National Portrait Gallery and the government of Spain, the exhibit highlighted the relationship between Spain and the United States over an 85-year period. The portraits, maps, documents and treaties in this exhibition illustrated moments of significant political and economic intersection between Spain and the United States. “Legacy” highlighted the crucial Spanish contributions to the American cause during the Revolutionary War and revealed the presence and influence of Hispanic culture in Florida, Louisiana, California and the Southwest in the formative and early years of the American republic. This exhibition premiered at the National Portrait Gallery in September 2007 and closed in February 2008. 

“Mexican Treasures of the Smithsonian”
The exhibit, part of the program series “Mexico at the Smithsonian,” showcased the full range of the Mexican presence in the Smithsonian’s collections, highlighting the shared histories and cultural exchanges between the United States and Mexico. Developed in partnership with various Smithsonian museums and units, the exhibition presented a select sample of the Smithsonian’s Mexican treasures—precious objects that tell the stories of Mexico’s land and peoples and ranged from Olmec statuettes and an Aztec obsidian mirror to a portrait of Mexican revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata by David Alfaro Siqueiros and costumes worn by popular Mexican American singer Selena.
 

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 SI-224-2009