Jaunted

Museums

¿Qué Pasa Con El Museo Alameda?

October 22, 2007 at 12:15 PM | 0 Comments

It's been a tough six months for the Museo Alameda, which opened in San Antonio this spring. After a weak opening exhibition featuring items culled from other Smithsonian Institution museums, the Alameda has had trouble drawing visitors. Fewer than 100,000 people have stopped in though museum officials predicted 400,000 within the first year.

High ticket prices are to blame, say administrators. But the museum just got some controversial funding from the San Antonio City Council to reduce admission to $4 for adults. If a capital campaign is successful, the Alameda could go free--which would put it in line with the Smithsonian facilities in Washington, DC.

So what else is there to see at the Alameda besides of all this drama? A video and photography exhibition chronicles the achievements of Cuban-American salsa goddess Celia Cruz until April 2008. In the upstairs galleries, a collection of Guatemalan textiles--called huipiles--will be on view until January. And the amazing botanica/gift shop (above) is still the place for South Texas tchotchkes.

Related Stories:
· Alameda Museum Gets Special Funding [Express-News]
· San Antonio Says Hola to Latino Museum [Jaunted]

[Photo: ydhsu]

Museums

San Antonio Says Hola To Latino Museum

April 16, 2007 at 12:45 PM | 0 Comments

This Smithsonian project is off the Mall -- way off. When it opened on Friday with fireworks and a Linda Rondstadt concert (she's part Mexican!), San Antonio's Museo Alameda automatically became the country's biggest museum of Latino culture. Topped off with exhibits about Panamanian nail salons and jewelry from a Hapsburg emperor of Mexico, the $15 million museum even has a Spanish nickname -- MAS, for Museo Alameda Smithsonian. ("Mas" means "more" in Spanish, gringo.)

The museum will eventually also have a live entertainment venue in the renovated and reborn Teatro Alameda, according to the L.A. Times.

[Photo: Al Rendon/LAT]