Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art

This exhibition presents the rich and varied contributions of Latino artists in the United States since the mid-twentieth century, when the concept of a collective Latino identity began to emerge. It presents works in all media by seventy-two leading modern and contemporary artists. Artists featured reflect the diversity of Latino communities in the United States, showcasing artists of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Dominican descent, as well as other Latin American groups with deep roots here.

Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art is drawn from the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s pioneering collection of Latino art. It features art created since the 1950s, when long-standing Latino communities increasingly demanded equal rights, the island of Puerto Rico became a commonwealth of the United States, and newer arrivals reached the American mainland. As more and more Latino artists entered art schools, they created works stimulated by their collective group histories and U.S. artistic context. Their related cultural and historical experiences, which for some included being marginalized within American society, often shaped their artistic perspectives.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website