What is referred to as Latina-American culture has been a part of the American experience and history for a long time now and one institution has recognized that.
The Smithsonian Institution recently announced that it will add a gallery dedicated to honoring Latino American experiences to the National Museum of American History. The gallery has been made possible through a $10 million gift from the Molina family. The family of Dr. C. David Molina, the founder of Molina Healthcare Inc, made the donation in honor of their father.
The Molina Family Latino Gallery which is scheduled to open in 2021 and will focus on sharing the stories of Latino communities through multimedia activities, artifacts and first-person narratives. Part of the 4500 square foot exhibit will explore the history of various Latino cultures in North America and their influence in the United States and elsewhere.
The Latino culture has not only played a great part of American history, but it is reasonable to say that American history cannot be complete without the Latino experience. This is just the latest step the Smithsonian has taken to increase its Latino representation.
Since 2010, the Smithsonian Institution has hired 10 Latino curators and added 8 Latino curatorial assistants. It has also made a concerted effort to devise exhibitions that highlight the contributions of Latino artists and political and social issues that affect Latino-Americans.
The Molina Family Latino Gallery will be its first dedicated gallery space within the Smithsonian Latino Center which has existed since 1997. Of course, the gallery is intended for all audiences but will obviously hold a special connection to Latino visitors. This special gallery is about creating exhibitions and public programs and publications and web content that relate to a community, the diverse Latino community, who have not seen themselves represented adequately historically in museums.