New York's El Museo del Barrio, its facilities closed to the public since May 2008 for an extensive renovation and expansion designed by Gruzen Samton Architects, celebrates its 40th anniversary with a long-awaited grand reopening on Saturday, October 17, 2009. Located at 1230 Fifth Avenue and East 104 Street (opposite Central Park) in Manhattan, the museum now features a glass façade, a redesigned 4,500-square-foot courtyard, entirely modernized galleries for its permanent collection and special exhibitions, a spacious café/multipurpose programming space and an impressive shop.

El Museo in the 21st Century
Other improvements to El Museo's campus include a structural light pylon that enhances the building's banners, a metal canopy that wraps around the courtyard and a glass-enclosed link for the structure's public spaces. The museum's audiovisual, climate control and security systems are significantly upgraded. And its much-improved Web site debuts next month.

Inaugural Exhibitions
El Museo del Barrio begins its program of special exhibitions with Nexus New York: Latin/American Artists in the Modern Metropolis (October 17, 2009-February 28, 2010). The presentation explores the interactions of U.S.-born, Caribbean and Latin American artists in early 20th-century New York through some 75 works, period photographs, examples of literature and documentary materials.

Nexus New York... is followed by Phantom Sightings: Art After the Chicano Movement (March 21-June 6, 2010), Retro/Active: The Works of Rafael Ferrer (June-September 2010), Nueva York (September 17, 2010-February 15, 2011) and El Museo's Bienal: The (S) Files 2011 (Spring 2011).

El Museo's premiere installation in its new Carmen Ana Unanue Permanent Collection Galleries is Voces y Visiones, a selection of 20th-century Caribbean, Latino and Latin American art drawn entirely from the museum's more than

Family and Adult Public Programs
Among El Museo's returning family and adult public programs are Nuevo Ciné: Recent Films from Latin America, In Our Lingo: Dialogues Between Latino Authors and SPIC UP! Latino Spoken Word Poetry. New to the museum's line-up of activities is Super Sabado: Target Free Third Saturdays at El Museo, featuring film screenings, poetry readings, concerts, family art-making activities and other events.
 
El Museo del Barrio's Founding and Collection
El Museo del Barrio was founded in 1969 by experimental artist and educator Raphael Montañez Ortiz (b. 1934) because parents, teachers and community activists noted that the accomplishments of Latinos were largely unrecognized by New York's mainstream museums. A cultural cornerstone of Manhattan's East Harlem neighborhood, El Museo's world-renowned collection of Caribbean and Latin American art encompasses pre-Columbian Taíno antiquities, traditional arts, 20th-century paintings, sculptures and drawings, prints, photographs, documentary films and video.