Claudia León - Museo de Historia, Antropología y Arte Week 1

To my YAP familia:

In his hit musical In The Heights, Lin-Manuel Miranda writes: “When I was younger I’d imagine what would happen if my parents had stayed in Puerto Rico… who would I be if I had never seen Manhattan, if I lived in Puerto Rico with my people?”

If you substitute Manhattan with Miami, you find a perfect description of questions I ask myself constantly. As many of you know, I left the island when I was ten years old. Because of this, I am constantly wondering who I would be, how different I would have turned out, if I still lived there. Further, as someone with an acute interest in history, I often find myself resentful of the fact that I have never taken a proper Puerto Rican history class above the fourth-grade level. It was no mistake when I put the University of Puerto Rico’s Museo de Historia, Antropología, y Arte as my first choice upon finalizing my YAP application. 

I arrived to the museum last Monday ready and eager to learn, and my experience has definitely taught me a lot in a short period of time. 

Day one consisted mainly of showing me around the museum and the university (where my mom graduated from, which gave it special significance), helping me acclimate to what will become my life for the next four or so weeks. 

The museum is currently under construction, and they only have one gallery open in addition to a small courtyard with various sculptures, and some mummies in display in the reception area. The Oller Gallery, dedicated to some of the works of Puerto Rican painter Francisco Oller, is tiny but mighty. It has no more than 15 paintings, most of them relatively small in size compared to the pièce de résistance: El Velorio. This painting, 9 ½’ by 14 ½’, depicts a group of people celebrating the death of a child likely aged between 2 and 7 years old. While at first glance, this image is definitely off-putting, it begins to make more sense when you learn the historical context, after which you are able to more deeply analyze and appreciate Oller’s masterpiece. In the 19th century, when El Velorio was painted, it was common belief that any child who died before a certain age was un angelito, and any crying would make their wings heavier and thus hinder them from reaching heaven. This painting, the scene it depicted, and the way it portrayed 19th century Puerto Rican campesino culture spoke to me, and have led me to undertake the project of learning more about it in order to be able to present it to visitors during guided tours. 

Francisco Oller's El Velorio

Day two I prepared for the creative writing workshop the museum would kick off on my third day. The workshop would be the first in a series of three art workshops aimed at those 55+, a community that is commonly undervalued. During the 3-hour creative writing workshop, I not only learned some new tips and tricks for my own writing endeavors but was able to see 26 people unleash their passion and creativity in a way that many of them had not done so before. One man in particular shared some words that stuck with me, and made me infinitely more grateful for my role in helping facilitate this workshop. Luis shared: “Hace tiempo no me siento como estudiante… El solo hecho de llegar aquí me provoca satisfacción.” It’s been a long time since I’ve felt like a student… just arriving here is satisfying. 

He later said, “Ha llegado uno de mis deseos… estudiar en la IUPI.” One of my dreams has arrived… studying at the IUPI [University of Puerto Rico]. 

Luis’ words touched me, and highlighted the value a service like this has for this community. Older people are often made to feel burdensome, like they no longer contribute to society. A workshop like this one that shows them that not only do they still have stuff to say, but that the stuff they have to say matters, instills a sense of purpose. 

Promotional poster for "La Vida Es Un Arte" workshop series

Creative Writing Workshop #1

Days four and five were spent helping my supervisors around the office, doing things like translating guided tours into English and captioning a YouTube video. I also was able to see the first tour they gave that week, which was the first step in preparing me to lead my own in the coming weeks. While I am slightly nervous at this idea, especially because the tours will likely be in Spanish (my fluency in the language doesn’t quite translate well in the museum and art world), I am more than anything excited at the opportunity to learn about a new facet of museum work, my language, and my culture. 

Tour Group observing El Velorio

Not only is el Museo de Historia, Antropologia, y Arte is small in size, but also in staff. If I recall correctly, my supervisor Lisa told me that they have seven full-time staff. Because of the small size, everybody does a little bit of everything and is able to contribute their own talents for the shared goal of the preservation of Puerto Rican culture and history. Throughout the next few weeks I will be able to work in different departments and further understand how they all work together to reach this goal. So far, I’ve been working with the education department, and have been able to see firsthand how they reach out to the community and tailor events, tours, and exhibits to increase knowledge and accessibility. 

Washington Week taught me the importance of being a representative of and ambassador to your community, particularly us as Latinx youth. We saw many successful individuals, some YAP alum and some not, who were accomplished in their own right while simultaneously representing their Latinx community with fierce pride. To me, the greatest example of this was Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez, writer of La Borinqueña. He is an extremely talented artist who not only represents Puerto Rican culture in his work but his life. He is extremely knowledgeable about the history of Puerto Rico, as well as current political affairs, and works tirelessly to make the voices of Puerto Rican people heard. 

His panel and workshop (in addition to other Washington Week speakers and events) helped me realize that in order to truly represent your people and be a voice for your community, you have to know where you’re coming from. As the great Maya Angelou said, “If you don't know where you've come from, you don't know where you're going.” I am confident that my summer at this museum will help me gain the knowledge and skills necessary to be able to do this on a larger scale as my life continues. 

Me with my supervisors, Oneida and Lisa

Abrazos, 

Clau