Hispanic Society of America

I. exhibitionsthis year witnessed a flurry of activity both in-house and beyond. At the Hispanic Society's east building gallery, we opened the fiscal year with the exhibition gilded figures: wood and clay made flesh (october 15, 2021-january 9, 2022). Also presented in the east building gallery were the exhibitions, nuestra casa: rediscovering the treasures of the Hispanic Society museum & library (february-april 2022); and american travelers: a watercolor journey through spain, portugal, and mexico (june 16, 2022-october 16, 2022. On the Hispanic Society's terrace, we featured two exhibitions by contemporary artists: on the flag poles we installed home address (march 8-31, 2022) by spanish artist elena del rivero to commemorate the suffrage movement and the long struggle for women's rights, the politics of domestic labor, and all human and voting rights left unprotected by the historic legislation of 1920; and on the gate on the upper terrace we installed art as solidarity by andrea arroyo (april 23-july 31 2022), a series of printed works created in response to contemporary social issues that we face collectively on a daily basis, such as immigration, civil and gender rights, displacement, violence, international conflicts, and the environmental crisis. Our neighbors at the american academy of arts and letters generously allowed us to use their space to exhibit 400 years of master drawings from the Hispanic Society museum & library as part of master drawings week from january 28-30, 2022. With regard to traveling exhibitions organized in partnership with the Hispanic Society, we opened faith and fortune: art across the global spanish empire, from the collection of the Hispanic Society museum & library (june 11- october 10, 2022) with the art gallery of ontario in toronto. Ii. Educational programs and outreachthis fiscal year, the education department created and facilitated informal learning experiences through programs offered both at the Hispanic Society, as well as at local partner sites and on virtual platforms. Education department programs include docent-guided tours in museum galleries, specialized presentations from invited speakers and panelists, interactive workshops that encourage creative expression, and performances that celebrate the cultural traditions of the Hispanic world. The education department became the coordinating office for academic partnerships and research fellows in curatorial practice and, more recently, fellows in creative arts practice, thereby supporting both the professional development of emerging scholars and artists while yielding innovative public programs that mediate curatorial objectives and advancing institutional and community conversations about cultural heritage, identity, and arts equity. The education department designed and delivered weekly guided tours of all gallery exhibitions, as well as specially arranged tours for large groups from local schools, universities, and civic associations. 150 students ranging from grade school through university participated in special tours for nuestra casa and american travelers. During the 2021-2022 academic year, a total of 235 students completed the six-session drawing program taught by a contracted teaching artist, 214 students completed the four-session museum maps program taught by education staff. Museum educators also presented tailored virtual workshops based on the permanent collection for academic partners ranging from grade school through university. The final special group visit was a museum day for 25 unaccompanied minor asylum seekers from the cayuga center. The itinerary included a guided tour of the american travelers exhibition and the audubon terrace, a story-telling activity, and a watercolor painting workshop. During the summer of 2022, a teaching artist/educator team worked with 22 students from the cuny stem institute, an out of school-time academic support and enrichment program for underserved middle school students in nyc doe district 6 (west harlem, Washington heights, inwood), allowing us to engage with a cross section of young learners from throughout our catchment area. Cuny stem scholars participated in a seven-lesson program of drawing, watercolor, and printmaking, as well as a creative group activity in which small teams were invited to design their own exhibitions and visitor experiences. By far our greatest strength continued to be the activation of the audubon terrace in partnership with local organizations, and our network of teaching artists for outdoor art installations, live performances, and interactive art-making programs for the visiting public of all ages. We launched our spring season with the opening weekend of andrea arroyo's art of solidarity, an installation of large prints on the audubon terrace in collaboration with the northern manhattan arts alliance. The opening event was scheduled to coincide with the harlem culture crawl and open house ny and featured a latin jazz performance by annette aguilar and the string beans. Andrea arroyo performed live painting to the jazz sounds of columbia artist-in-residence miguel zenn, offering an interdisciplinary exploration of the beauty of improvisation. The Hispanic Society co-presented with mano a mano mexican culture without borders a taste of mexico, a festive day of live music, traditional food, and artmaking. Spring closed with uptown!, the culminating event of jazz power initiative's intergenerational jazz festival featuring the 19-piece steven oquendo latin jazz orchestra, delivering a powerful performance that drew people in from neighboring buildings and local businesses. We closed the year with a robust series of programs for Hispanic heritage month that included art-making workshops in painted ceramics, watercolor painting, and paper papel picado. We also co-presented with jugando-n-play en mis sueos/in my dreams, an interactive bilingual theatrical performance for young children and their families. Approximately 80 attendees participated in Hispanic heritage month education programs. Iii. Concertsthis year's annual concert series and pre-concert lectures, four multidisciplinary concerts in total, was organized in collaboration with local ensembles and international artists who performed at the library and auditorium of the american academy of arts and letters. This series was dedicated to flamenco in collaboration with the fundacin cristina heeren de arte flamenco. The concerts are supported in part by public funds from the new york city department of cultural affairs in partnership with the city council with additional funding from the new york state council on the arts.