The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Latino (NMAL) honors the dreams, challenges, and triumphs of U.S. Latinos, elevating our stories within the nation’s narrative. We create transformative experiences, foster a deeper understanding of American history and culture, and connect communities nationwide.

While the permanent museum building is still in the planning stages, the staff is creating exhibitions, public programs, educational materials, and learning opportunities while managing a temporary gallery.

Founded as the Smithsonian Latino Center in 1997, NMAL has worked collaboratively with Smithsonian museums and research centers, ensuring that the contributions of the Latino community in the arts, history, and scientific achievement are explored, celebrated and preserved.

The Museum:

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Latino advances the representation, understanding and appreciation of Latino history and culture in the United States. The museum provides resources and collaborates with other museums to expand scholarly research, public programs, digital content, collections and more. The museum operates its Molina Family Latino Gallery, the Smithsonian’s first gallery dedicated to the Latino experience, at the National Museum of American History.

Molina Family Latino Gallery

The National Museum of the American Latino opened the Molina Family Latino Gallery, the Smithsonian’s first gallery dedicated to Latino contributions to America, in June 2022 at the National Museum of American History. The 4,500-square-foot gallery offers temporary exhibitions and educational programs in the decade or so leading up to the grand opening of the museum’s own building.

¡Puro Ritmo! The Musical Journey of Salsa

OPENING SPRING 2026 | From the streets of Havana to the dancefloors of New York and beyond, "¡Puro Ritmo!" explores how Afro-Cuban music evolved into a defining sound in the U.S. This bilingual exhibition traces salsa’s roots and rise through nearly 300 objects. Highlighting artists from Tito Puente and Celia Cruz to local legends and hidden pioneers, "¡Puro Ritmo!" celebrates salsa as one of America’s great musical traditions.

Mission

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Latino honors the dreams, challenges, and triumphs of U.S. Latinos, elevating diverse stories within the nation’s narrative. We create transformative experiences, foster a deeper understanding of American history and culture, and connect communities nationwide.

Vision

We envision a future where Latino communities belong, stories unfold, and cultures connect.

Programs and Exhibitions

The museum is integrating and building on programs previously managed by the former Smithsonian Latino Center. It will continue to advance the representation, understanding, and appreciation of Latino history and culture in the United States. The museum also provides resources and collaborates with other museums to expand scholarly research, public programs, digital content, collections and more.

Fostering Future Leaders and Museum Professionals: The American Latino Museum offers programs such as the Latino Museum Studies Program for emerging museum-studies scholars, the Young Ambassadors Program for graduating high school seniors and the Latino Curatorial Initiative for museum careers. Since 2010, the initiative has funded 20 positions for Latino curators, archivists and curatorial assistants across the Institution.

Advancing Intergenerational and Lifelong Learning: The museum will present diverse and complex stories about the Latino experience through public programs to serve audiences of all ages. These programs will include Latino heritage celebrations, free concerts, films, lectures, group visits, online programs and other special events. Many programs will take place at the General Motors Learning Lounge, located within the Molina Family Latino Gallery, or in museums across the Smithsonian.

Supporting Latino Exhibitions: In addition to developing exhibitions for the Molina Family Latino Gallery, the museum collaborates with other museums across the Smithsonian and beyond to produce temporary and traveling exhibitions.

Research Staff

The National Museum of the American Latino (NMAL) was created in 2020 by an act of Congress as part of the Smithsonian Institution. The museum brings together the experiences of all Latino communities in the United States to foster a deeper appreciation of their contributions to national history and culture. NMAL is building its curatorial team led by Dr. Tey Marianna Nunn, Associate Director, Content & Interpretation. Other content experts at this museum include Melissa Carrillo, Head of Digital Initiatives, and Ranald Woodaman, Assistant Director of Exhibition Development who may serve as advisors on fellowship proposals.

NMAL contributes to Latino/a/x Studies at the Smithsonian through the Latino Initiatives Pool, an internal federal fund that supports exhibitions, research, and collections among other areas. Previously, NMAL led a Smithsonian wide program called the Latino Curatorial Initiative, a cohort of Latino/a/x content experts working in Latino history, art, and culture. These individuals conduct research, organize exhibitions and public programs, inform educational programs and web content, and build collections and archives that reflect the contributions of Latinos to the United States.

These content experts across the Smithsonian include: Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (Amalia Córdova, PhD., Supervisory Museum Curator, World Cultures, and Armando Suarez, Latinx Archivist), Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum (Christina De Leon, Associate Curator of Latino Design), National Museum of African American History and Culture (Ariana Curtis, PhD.; Museum Curator, Latinx Studies), National Museum of American History (Verónica A. Méndez, PhD., Curator of Division of Political and Jose Centeno-Melendez, PhD., Oral Historian), National Museum of the American Indian (L. Antonio Curet, PhD., Curator of Archeology), and the National Portrait Gallery (Taína Caragol, PhD., Senior curator of Painting & Sculpture).