Oakland’s Latin American Cultural Center: Building bridges one visitor at a time
A portion of this exhibit at the Latin American Cultural Center focuses on music, dance, film and folk art.
The auditorium at Oakland's Latin American Cultural Center set up for a party.
A Mexican mask on display at the Latin American Cultural Center.
About a year ago, the Latin American Cultural Center (LACC) opened its doors to the public in an historic building on Bigelow Boulevard that was built in 1912 and once housed the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania.
“We thought it would be a beautiful center to disseminate what Latin America is all about,” said Milagros Pereyra-Rojas, executive director of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA).
Pereyra-Rojas explained that the center was founded by LASA to celebrate Latin America and its art, history and culture.
“A lot of museums in the United States concentrate on Latino history within the United States. Our aim, however, is to talk about Latin America exclusively in an effort to build bridges and be more understanding of each other — to show that we are the same, but also different and to remove stereotypes,” said Pereyra-Rojas, who hails from Peru.
Fox Chapel resident Bill DeWalt was called upon to lend his museum expertise to the new center. Anyone who has visited Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Museum of Natural History, might be interested to learn that not only did DeWalt serve as executive director of the museum, but he was also responsible for raising $50 million for various initiatives, like creating new dinosaur halls. Both DeWalt and his wife Sylvia Keller, who were also hired to create the $250-million Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, said that the LACC is unique.
“Our benchmarking showed that there is no museum like this in the United States. There are Latin American art museums, many Hispanic and Latino centers, but none focusing solely on Latin America,” said DeWalt, adding that makers and creators featured will be exclusively from outside of the United States.
DeWalt said that while other areas like Miami and Washington, D.C., were considered for the museum location, Pittsburgh was ultimately chosen.
“LASA was housed at the University of Pittsburgh since 1986, so we wanted to be near them because of the great relationship we have with the college,” said Pereyra-Rojas, adding that Pittsburgh has also been very supportive and that being in the Schenley Farms Historic District is an added plus for the organization.
The center, which spans approximately 15,000 square feet, is comprised of three floors: the lowest level reserved for storage and restrooms, level two containing permanent exhibits and an auditorium and level three featuring temporary exhibitions that will rotate out every 9 to 11 months, according to DeWalt.
Funding for the museum comes from a variety of sources, from LASA’s 14,000 scholars and students from around the world through dues and conference fees, to Pittsburgh’s Hillman Foundation, Heinz endowments, funds from PNC Charitable Trusts, government funding from Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority and private individuals.
Exhibitions
Ending in July was an exhibition titled, “Maya Spirituality: Indigenous Paintings 1957-2020,” featuring paintings and objects depicting how religious beliefs guide life and healing.
A permanent exhibit titled, “Latin America: An Overview of Its People’s, Cultures, Arts” focuses on the area’s geography, early cultures, history, colonization, ecology, resources, religion, education systems, and arts. The second permanent exhibit titled, “Presencia de America Latina,” is a recreation of a mural created by Mexican artist Jorge González Camarena in 1965. The original acrylic painting hangs on the entrance hall lobby of the Casa de Arte of the Universidad de Concepción in Concepción, Chile.
The latest temporary exhibit will feature a collection of Mexican masks. According to DeWalt, masks have been used in Mexico for thousands of years in dances and ceremonies and more recently have been adopted by wrestlers.
“During COVID-19, people began making masks that were creative representations of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said, of the masks that can sometimes be quite scary.
The exhibit is called Mexican Masks: Symbols, Celebrations Satire and Safety, and opened Sept. 23.
Plans for the future include additional outreach to schools for the scheduling of field trips. According to DeWalt, curriculum has also been developed to complement the visits. The center is also accepting reservations for the auditorium for future parties, celebrations, board meetings and retreats.
“We hope for this to be a hub of activity for years to come,” said Pereyra-Rojas.
The Latin Cultural Center is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10-4 p.m. Admission is $12 for adults, $11 for seniors and $6 for children age 5-18.