El Museo del Barrio reopened after renovations with a fresh new look, two new exhibits and celebrating a 40th anniversary. The extensive $35 million, six-years-in-the-making rehab work has added a welcoming new courtyard and refurbished galleries. Julián Zugazagoitía, the museum’s director, said the renovation “represents an achievement that celebrates the importance of the Latino community and the possibility of offering the best in the creative aspect.” The exhibits were curated by Elvis Fuentes and Deborah Cullen.
The exhibit design engages the audience through a variety of interpretive elements that allows for multiple ways of entering the content.
The goal of our exhibit design was to produced the proper balance between interpretive content and the art objects. The design strategically placed interpretive panels on a horizontal plan as not to compete with the visual integrity of the curation.
The exhibit contains a substancial historical dimension that was important to understand in order to grasp the relationship between the art works.
This is a show that makes you want to know more. Seeing it is like exploring a rich archive, still in the process of being sorted out.-- Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times
The design sought elegant solutions to the bilingual presentation of text.
Design of permanent galley with video projection showing a time-line on the growth of the museum's collection.
