N.Y.'s El Museo del Barrio reopens galleries

The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Galleries at El Museo del Barrio have reopened after an 18-month renovation.

El Museo del Barrio is the Museum Mile's only institution devoted to Latino art.

The museum's facilities have been reconfigured to include space for its permanent collection, a cafe, a new glass facade and a redesigned 4,500-square-foot courtyard. It is marking its 40th anniversary this year with public programming, events and performances.

The reopening included the launch of an exhibition entitled "Nexus New York: Latin/American Artists in the Modern Metropolis." The show explores connections between Latino and non-Latino artists working in New York in the early 20th century, and how their exchanges and cross-influences impacted avant-garde art movements. The exhibition includes more than 200 works by artists from Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, as well as U.S. and European artists working in New York.

The show will be on view through Feb. 28.

The museum is located at 1230 Fifth Ave. between 104th and 105th Street. Manhattan's Museum Mile starts at 82nd Street with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Other museums on that stretch of Fifth Avenue include the Neue Galerie New York, the Jewish Museum, the Museum of the City of New York, the Guggenheim and the Cooper Hewitt.

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October 26, 2009 06:01 PM EDT

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