Latino Outreach Program
Philadelphia Museum of Art

For the past 18 years, the Philadelphia Museum of Art's (PMA's) Latino Outreach Program has been nurturing the creative and personal development of Latino youth throughout the city. The program's broad range of initiatives strengthens communities by offering critically needed after-school, weekend, and summer activities. The Latino Outreach Program also draws on the resources of the Museum to teach young people about their rich cultural heritage.

The PMA recognizes that major art museums do not always reflect the diversity of their surrounding communities. Consequently, the Museum actively collaborates with cultural and support-service organizations in Latino neighborhoods to extend its reach and make its resources more accessible. By hosting programs at both the Museum and community sites, the PMA has established a dialogue with the community and regularly engages Latino youth in hands-on arts experiences.

Organizations such as Taller PuertorriqueÒo (The Puerto Rican Workshop) and Congreso de Latinos Unidos (Congreso) are among the PMA's partners. Through these affiliations, the Museum annually places artists-in-residence for young people's educational programs, offers after-school art classes to neighborhood teens in drug-prevention programs, and provides bus trips to the Museum and paid internships for Latino teens.

An annual Latino Family Day welcomes more than 300 children and their families to the Museum for gallery tours, craft activities, and performances. During Hispanic Heritage Month, the Museum participates in Latino community festivals and health fairs, reaching hundreds of families that have never visited the PMA. In conjunction with Big Picture Alliance, a filmmaking and youth development program, the PMA provides an intensive, seven week program for up to 30 teens enrolled in risk-prevention programs in Latino communities. Using the PMA collections as a creative springboard, students learn how to write, edit, direct, and produce films.

The Museum's collaborative efforts create valuable, enduring relationships. By leveraging the PMA's collections and resources, the Latino Outreach Program kindles an interest in art and fosters the development of problem-solving, decision-making, and cognitive skills in Philadelphia's Latino youth. Understanding that trust is built between people, not institutions, the Museum has fostered collaborative efforts designed to create relationships that will endure for years to come.