El Museo del Barrio

El Museo del Barrio was founded in 1969 by artist Raphael Montañez Ortiz and a group of Puerto Rican parents, educators, and activists spurred by concerns of a lack of cultural diversity and education in New York's mainstream museums and city educational programs. Located in Central and East Harlem, an area also known as El Barrio, these activists demanded their kids receive an education that addressed and promoted their diverse cultural heritage. Now located on Fifth Avenue in Upper Manhattan, El Museo stands as New York's leading Latino cultural institution.

Since its inception, El Museo has been committed to celebrating and promoting Latino, Carribean, and Latin American cultures through its extensive collections, varied exhibitions and publications, bilingual public programs, educational activities, festivals, and special events. Through this diverse programming, El Museo reaches and welcomes a wide array of historically marginalized communities. It strives to represent the richness of the Caribbean and Latin American arts and cultural history and provide its audience an education on the prominence and importance of each culture.