El Museo del Barrio praised Julián Zugazagoitia´s Work Before Leaving the Institution
Tony Bechara, Chairman of the Board of El Museo del Barrio, announced today that the museum’s Director and CEO, Julián Zugazagoitia, will be leaving the institution this summer to assume the position of Director and CEO of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City Missouri, considered one of the most prestigious encyclopedic museums in the United States.
“Julián has been an extraordinary leader for El Museo, bringing it to new heights culminating with our major capital renovation,” said Mr. Bechara. “He has strengthened our institution financially and artistically. Attendance has grown five-fold and our budget has doubled. Audiences of all backgrounds are more engaged than ever before. We look forward to continuing to count him a close friend of El Museo.”
Early on in his almost eight year tenure at El Museo, Zugazagoitia spearheaded a strategic plan resulting in dramatic expansion under his leadership, including renovated galleries that opened in 2009 to critical acclaim. “Perhaps the truest test of leadership is preparing the ground for your successor,” continued Mr. Bechara. “Just as Julián built on the tremendous accomplishments of his predecessor, he leaves his successor with a wealth of opportunities to continue building our flourishing institution.”
Mr. Zugazagoitia stated, ”I have been honored to lead El Museo and work with the most dedicated Board of Trustees and the most talented, driven staff imaginable. It has also been immensely gratifying to be part of the East Harlem community and work with so many community based organizations. I am thankful to the ever-increasing family of supporters who have made my years here enormously satisfying, and will count myself among El Museo’s most passionate fans for the rest of my life.”
The ole of El Museo del Barrio
El Museo del Barrio, New York’s leading Latino cultural institution, welcomes visitors of all backgrounds to discover the artistic and cultural landscape of the Caribbean and Latin America. The richness of Latino cultures is represented in El Museo’s wide-ranging collections and exhibitions, complemented by performing arts events, cultural celebrations, and educational programs. A dynamic artistic, cultural, and community gathering place, El Museo is a center of cultural pride on New York’s Museum Mile.
El Museo was founded 40 years ago by artist and educator Raphael Montañez Ortiz and a coalition of parents, educators, artists, and activists who were determined to see Puerto Rican culture represented in their children’s schools and fought for changes in the public school curriculum, including the classroom museum that became the first El Museo. Since its inception, El Museo has been committed to celebrating and promoting Latino culture, thus becoming a cornerstone of El Barrio, and a valuable resource for New York City. El Museo’s varied Permanent Collection of over 6,500 objects from the Caribbean and Latin America includes pre-Columbian Taíno artifacts, traditional arts, twentieth-century drawings, paintings, sculptures and installations, as well as prints, photography, documentary films and video.
For more information about El Museo, please visit www.elmuseo.org .
