The city of San Fransisco has welcomed yet another piece of artistic excellence to its Latino culture, a 60,000 square foot long Mexican Museum. The museum, created by Mexican-American artist Peter Rodriguez, was celebrated with a dedication ceremony Tuesday (July 19).
— The Mexican Museum (@sfmexicanmuseum) July 19, 2016
Fascinated with collecting, Rodriguez gathered over 16,000 works of contemporary and colonial Latino art. Imagine that many pieces of art in your possession! He made history by opening up San Fransisco’s very first Latino museum of art back in 1975. However, he still dreamed of curating a larger museum using his own impressive collection. Years later his dreams are realized by creating with his paintings the soon-to-be largest collection of Latino art in the nation. The museum will also include approximately 800 works of Mexican folk art donated by the family of American businessman, Nelson Rockefeller. Other galleries will include works of art by famous Mexican artist Diego Rivera and Miguel Covarrubias.
“Mexicans, Latinos and immigrants trigger prosperity. Let’s continue to have a more promising shared journey together!” @ruizmassieu
— The Mexican Museum (@sfmexicanmuseum) July 19, 2016
“My uncle worked tirelessly, and with passion and drive, to personally demonstrate that, as a Mexican-American, we can achieve any dream by ourselves,” shared his niece, Irene Christopher. Unfortunately passing away recently this summer, Rodriguez will not be able to watch his dreams unfold.
#HappyBirthday to @sfmexicanmuseum #founder Peter Rodriguez on his 90th #birthday! pic.twitter.com/aBrajv0cNX
— The Mexican Museum (@sfmexicanmuseum) June 25, 2016
According to Fox News Latino, approximately 39 percent of California’s population identify as Latino, making Rodriguez’s contribution a true gem to the city’s culture. “The new museum will allow us to educate second and third generation Chicano, Latino children about their heritage,” said Andrew Kluger, chairman of the museum board. “Which is quite important because many of them don’t know about it.”
The Mexican Museum is set to open in Spring of 2019.