1969
Events
- Raphael Montañez Ortiz, artist and educator, is appointed by Martin W. Frey, Superintendent of NYC Board of Education’s School District 4, to create curriculum on Puerto Rican history, culture, folklore, and art
- Montañez Ortiz reconceives the project as a community museum, founding El Museo del Barrio and serving as its first director (through Spring 1971)
- Montañez Ortiz travels to Puerto Rico with Frey, to conduct research on Puerto Rican culture and make institutional contacts with museum directors and anthropologists
- El Museo del Barrio begins operations in a classroom at PS 125 (425 West 123rd Street), the location of the office of District 4
70's
1970
Events
- The museum relocates to PS 206 (508 East 120th Street), following a citywide reorganization of school districts
Exhibitions
- The Art of Needlework
- Puerto Rican Painting and Graphics
1971
Events
- “El Museo del Barrio” is filed as a nonprofit corporation with Raphael Montañez Ortiz, José García and Jerald Ordover listed as directors
- Community activists from School District 4 and Community Board 11 hold hearings on the future of El Museo del Barrio; Montañez Ortiz and Marta Moreno Vega present before the public, Moreno Vega is selected as the second Director of the museum (through March 1975)
- The magazine Art in America publishes the essay (Culture and the people) by Montañez Ortiz
- El Museo del Barrio relocates to 206 East 116th Street and later inaugurates its new space with the exhibition Homage to Our Painters
- “Amigos del Museo del Barrio” is filed as a nonprofit corporation with moreno Vega, Eugene Calderón, Hilda Arroyo and Hiram Maristany listed as directors
- School groups from across New York City visit the museum, participating in workshops and exhibits
- The museum receives its first donation to the Permanent Collection, a graphic art portfolio from the Centro de Arte Puertorriqueño, donated by Florencio García Cisneros
- First reference to Three King’s Day celebration and programming at the museum is published in The New York Times
1971
Exhibitions
- Boricua – aquí y alla presented at the American Museum of Natural History in The Corner Gallery
- Graphics
- El arte de la aguja
- Homage to Our Painters
- What Puerto Rico Means to Me
- Taíno
- Graphic Portfolio of El Centro de Arte Puertorriqueño
- Three Magi
