Hidden No Longer, Renovated Hispanic Society Museum & Library Looks To Become Cultural Fixture In New York

One of New York’s–even all of America’s–hidden cultural gems hopes to shed the “hidden” portion of its identity to focus squarely on the “gem.”

Founded in 1904, the Hispanic Society Museum & Library (HSM&L) collections focus on all facets of art, literature and culture in Spain, Portugal, Latin America, and the Philippines up to the early twentieth century and are unparalleled in their scope and quality outside of Spain. Following a massive, $20 million renovation effort, HSM&L comes roaring back to life on April 6, 2023, with updated physical spaces, a world-class special exhibition program and a refreshed attitude.

“We want the HSM&L to be a welcoming, dynamic and inclusive place. Not a club or a secret. This is the core of our programming and partnership strategy,” CEO and Director Guillaume Kientz told Forbes.com. “A museum first and foremost should cater to its audience and the renovations will reflect this sentiment. The HSM&L is a museum of the 2020s and puts the needs and desires of its audience first.”

Closing its doors in 2017 for construction to begin, the once-moribund institution was functionally closed for many years before that, a static, stuffy, relic few in New York even knew about, let alone visited. Kientz wants the “new” HSM&L to be essential to its communities instead of removed from them–the Washington Heights neighborhood the building calls home, but also the broader New York cultural community and the global arts community as well.

“An example of how we are fostering ties to our community in Upper Manhattan is our partnership with the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance, creating installations by living artists on the Broadway Terrace just inside the gates between 155th and 156th streets,” Kientz said. “Watching people come in every day and take selfies, I realized that this is an amazing stage. It is our most immediate driver to convince people to pass through the gate.”

The HSM&L has begun collaborating with local nonprofits and businesses in a way that would have been almost unimaginable before Kientz took over in 2020.

“We want to be an agent of empowerment and economic growth for our community,” Kientz, formerly the curator of Spanish and Latin American Art at the Louvre, said.

Intangibly, his vision is for a friendlier, “less intimidating” institution. That will take time and sustained effort. Tangibly, immediately, reopened spaces will be fully ADA accessible for the first time with improved air quality and ventilation, lighting and electrical, roofing, plumbing and signage.

“Our aim is to modernize and refresh our cherished spaces while preserving the magic of the place, its soul and charm,” Kientz explained.

Phase 1

What visitors will experience beginning April 6 is the first phase of a multiyear redevelopment master plan. Upgraded are HSM&L’s three landmark buildings and the Audubon Terrace, so named after naturalist John James Audubon, the property’s former owner. These represent the museum’s signature indoor and outdoor spaces.

“Those large spaces are to be perceived as a forum, a stage where propositions can be made, and critical thinking is welcome and encouraged. The renovation is really about visually alleviating the spaces, making rooms for visitors’ contributions, new voices and new approaches,” Kientz said. “I am looking forward not only to what the public will see, but most importantly, perhaps, to what they will feel and want to add to it. It must be a collaborative experience, not an overwhelming, daunting one.”

Returning to public view will be the museum’s crown jewel, Joaquín Sorolla’s, Vision of Spain, 14 monumental paintings dedicated to Spain where the viewer is surrounded by the peoples, costumes and traditions of various regions of the country originally installed in 1926.

Beginning in 2024, HSM&L will start work on the next phase of its masterplan to include a new visitor center, educational facilities, conservation lab and additional special exhibition galleries. That four-year effort with a budget of $50 million is being led by HSM&L board chair and former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1977 through 2008, Philippe de Montebello.

The museum will not be placing this fundraising on the backs of guests, continuing to offer free admission.

Old Masters and New Masters

“A conservator of the most important works in the art historical canon of Spanish and Latin American art, literature and culture, the HSM&L is equally enthusiastic in broadening its support of living artists from Spain, Portugal and Latin America, commissioning some of the most groundbreaking contemporary work of today,” Kientz said.

Contemporary artists he has his eye on to bring into the refreshed HSM&L alongside El Greco, Velasquez, Goya and Sorrolla are Enrique Martinez Celaya, a painter of Cuban descent based in Los Angeles, Marco Maggi, a Uruguayan born sculptor, Jorge Mayet, a Cuban exile living in Spain, Brazilian painter Adriana Varejão and Mexican photographer Flor Garduño.

“We want to ensure the place is hanging new works all the time, with new displays in the Main Court every six months and in the project gallery every three months,” Kientz said. “The idea is to bring new ideas, new people, new voices. The HSM&L will continue to prove itself not just useful, but essential to society as a cultural hub for change.”

Kientz next opportunity to put his money where his mouth is in regards to a reopened HSM&L being “an agent of empowerment and economic growth for our community” appears to come from within. The institution’s small staff of about 20 voted to go on indefinite strike Monday, March 27^th, after rejecting leadership’s “last, best, final offer.”

Welcoming back the public by forcing visitors to cross picket lines would make for a dubious return at best.

Sky High Flamenco

If a renovated Hispanic Society Museum & Library puts you in the mood for all things Spanish, carry the motif over to Nubeluz, Chef José Andrés cocktail bar atop The Ritz-Carlton New York, NoMad. During April, the swanky spot introduces a Flamenco Residency timed with Spain’s La Feria de Abril de Sevilla, “Seville’s April Fair.”

Performing two sets every Tuesday evening in April (7:00-7:40 and 8:15-9:00), Flamenco dancers accompanied by live music will ignite the room with Spanish rhythms and Latin choreography. Menu specials include a Champagne Billecart-Salmon flight and “Say When!” caviar service.

Reservations are required and can be made here.