elmuseo@SVA represents a coming together of two New York institutions: El Museo del Barrio and the School of Visual Arts. Founded by artist Raphael Montanez Ortiz and local activists, parents and teachers in East Harlem, El Museo del Barrio’s original mission was to support the art and culture of Puerto Rico. By the early 1970s that mission expanded to include all of Latin America and Latino communities in the Unites States. The work on view in the exhibition explores the aesthetic and thematic affinities of these different but like-minded communities. In the words of curator Aranda-Alvarado: “At various stages of their careers, the artists in the show act as contemporary anthropologists gathering objects or inspiration from the urban landscape, engaging with issues around migration and the body, exploring space and architecture, tradition and craft.”