Meet the Latinas Envisioning the Art World of the Future

MEXICO CITY.- The American art world has long been undiverse: Despite the number of artists and art from different racial and ethnic groups, offering varied perspectives, few of those works have reached the great halls of the main museums.

That happens, in part, because the vast majority of those who decide what will be exhibited have been non-Hispanic white people.

But

.

In recent years, some important Latin voices have reached curatorial positions, which in turn are highlighting Latin art in spaces where it was not traditionally seen.

One example is

, a Dominican-American who was appointed last year to head the art and conservation department at the National Gallery of Art. That gallery, located in Washington DC, contains more than 150,000 works (including a garden of sculptures).

"Isn't it super powerful to think that this was achieved? That someone like me, a woman born of migrant parents, is now in charge of it?" Ramos stresses in an interview with Noticias Telemundo.

Art curators Margaret Salazar-Porzio, Elizabeth Ferrer, and E. Carmen RamosIllustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios.

Photos: Smithsonian Institution, National Gallery of Art, Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

He adds that with appointments like his, "

artists can

for their work, have the expectation that there is greater respect and understanding of the edges and nuances of the meanings of their works."

making its way

In July, the Whitney Museum in New York, the prominent institution that organizes the popular Biennale of contemporary American art, also promoted a Latina:

, who is now in the position of associate curator.

Guerrero is organizing two major Latino art shows: one focused entirely on

artist Martine Gutierrez, and another of Puerto Rican artists for the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Maria.

The second "is the first exhibition focused on Puerto Rican art to be organized by a major American museum in almost half a century."

Also published last year was the book

, by curator of contemporary art

, the first compendium of its kind to chronicle Latino contributions to the development of American photography.

The cover of the book on photography of American Latinos, by Elizabeth Ferrer. Courtesy of UW Press

And an exhibition co-curated by Mexican-American Terezita Romo opened this Sunday, February 6, at the Denver Art Museum.

It claims to be the first exhibition of its kind –in all of the Americas– centered on Malintzin (or La Malinche).

This exhibition brings together pieces by Latino artists in the United States and Latin America that explore the effect that the story of that multilingual indigenous woman who left a controversial legacy has had on them, given that she was an interpreter for Hernán Cortés and gave birth to his son, considered by some the first figure of miscegenation.

decision power

Curators and historians of the art Latinos and Latinas have founded and directed major Hispanic institutions in the past, such as the Barrio Museum in New York, or the Mexican Museum in San Francisco.

But the most recent appointments and jobs have been in more conventional spheres and with a more general public.

And that is where they have been most needed for a long time.

A 2019 survey by the Mellon Foundation throws up shocking numbers on the demographics of people in charge of art museums across the United States.

72% of all people who work at them are non-Hispanic white, but the disparity is even greater in leadership positions.

In those positions – the person in charge of curation or educational programs, for example –

"We are not close to parity," says Ramos, nor that the demographic reality of the country (Latinos make up almost 19% of the population) is reflected in these institutions.

Although "the number of us has increased in recent years," celebrates the Afro-Latin curator, "and to a great extent in positions like mine, in organizations or departments that are not culturally specific."

Auctioned a work of painter Frida Kahlo at a record price of $ 35 million

Nov. 17, 202101:02

He adds that "it is hopeful to see more and more people of Latino descent in these important positions where you can work to

," having decision-making power "at the table where the present and future of museums are viewed."

But the numbers still show that much remains to be done.

Trapped by the markets

The lack of diverse voices not only looks side leading museums.

It is also notable in the lack of art collections with works by Latinos, or the very few exhibitions in which

the works on display are by someone of Latino origin.

This part of the problem

, argues anthropologist at the University of New York Arlene Dávila.

The also NYU professor interviewed curators from many institutions, artists and art fair organizers to study why Latino creators and artists have been marginalized for so long.

The findings form the book

published in 2020.

There Dávila says there is a

because works by historic Latin American artists, such as Frida Kahlo, break auction records or works by current but already well-established Latin American artists are centerpieces at fairs.

In other words, it seems that the art market is valuing all Latino creations.

But in reality, Dávila found that many Latino artists – especially those based in the United States, usually younger and less known in the

– remain on the periphery.

Ignorance and because there are so many people in museums they already know who these artists, that art is not added to collections not being displayed by itself, it is not published in art books, and not worth enough to know how and how much it should be worth monetarily.

To change that, "all kinds of cultural institutions need to hire Latino professionals, collect Latino art, seek out scholars who have studied Latino cultural expressions," says Ramos.

But above all, "they need to realize that

without that representation."

A museum for the future

More than a year ago, legislation was passed to create the National Museum of the American Latino, after decades of activist efforts.

In early February, Cuban-American Jorge Zamanillo was appointed as permanent director for the future institution.

This Hispanic runs the new Smithsonian National Latino Museum

Feb. 4, 202203: 31

The museum will be part of the Smithsonian network, promising to make amends for what a 1990s report called "deliberate neglect" of Hispanic contributions to art, culture and history.

However, it is still years away from formally existing: until December of this year the site on which it will be built will be determined, and enough money will have to be collected for the construction to begin and end.

For now, there are those Latinas making their way at the tables where decisions are made.

"The

, " says Ramos, because "the work and ideas of artists help us understand our world and society, past and present."