Smithsonian Considers Existing Building For Latino Museum

(MENAFN- USA Art News) The Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Latino may be housed in the Arts and Industries Building, an existing property, instead of a new purpose-built facility. This potential decision could be made at a board meeting scheduled for August 31, as reported by the New York Times. The Smithsonian confirmed the meeting but declined to provide further comment to the newspaper.

The 1881 Arts and Industries Building is located on the National Mall, positioned between the Smithsonian's Castle and the Hirshhorn Museum. Previously, the board had resolved to construct new buildings for both the Latino Museum and the American Women's History Museum, bypassing the Arts and Industries Building. These new constructions would have required congressional approval because the proposed sites are owned by the National Park Service.

A Republican-dominated Congress has generally supported President Donald Trump, who has strongly criticized the Smithsonian during his second term. This included a 2025 executive order accusing the institution of promoting“improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology.” The Smithsonian, a network of museums and research centers, largely depends on federal funding. Earlier plans for the Latino museum near the Tidal Basin, across from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, were voted down by the House of Representatives in May. The bill faced opposition due to sections that would have given Trump and his allies“more influence,” according to the Times, including demands that the museum focus exclusively on“biological women.” The Latino Museum's leadership also expressed concerns about this site's proximity to the water table and its lack of direct frontage on the Mall.

Republican legislators and conservative commentators have voiced criticism of the project. Mike Gonzalez, a senior fellow at the Trump-aligned Heritage Foundation, characterized the proposed Arts and Industries siting as an attempt to circumvent congressional approval.“The Smithsonian Institution is trying to use a loophole to sneak in a building for a yet-to-be-built controversial museum that remains homeless,” Gonzalez wrote in an editorial published in the Washington Examiner. He further added,“It is an act of desperation by a museum complex beset with accusations of bias.” Gonzalez participated in a contentious congressional hearing in July, where Anthea Hartig, director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, was questioned about diversity, equity, and inclusion in its programming. Gonzalez called the institution's philosophy Marxist and advocated for the dismissal of Smithsonian leaders. In his Examiner editorial, he asserted that the Latino museum“has made it crystal clear that if Congress ever allows it to come into being, it too will be a hothouse for radical activism.”

Congress authorized the creation of both the Latino museum and the women's museum in 2020 as part of a $2.3 trillion year-end spending bill. Supporters had advocated for such a museum for approximately 25 years. Jorge Zamanillo was appointed director in 2022. The project faced a temporary setback in 2023 when the House Appropriations Committee approved a budget that prohibited federal spending on the project. However, by the following year, ARTnews reported that the institution had overcome significant obstacles, forming a core team, establishing a well-connected board, and raising $70 million toward the projected $500 million in private funds needed to match the $500 million in public funds designated for construction and endowment.

We previously reported:

Museu Bernardo Paz to Open Near Inhotim in September 2027 A second major art-and-landscape institution is being planned in Minas Gerais, Brazil, where Bernardo Paz is developing Museu Bernardo Paz on 311 acres of countryside near Brumadinho. The first phase is scheduled to open in September 2027, extending the collector's long engagement with contemporary art, [...]

Source: ARTnews

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