The Museo Alameda’s festive rosa mexicano exterior will glow even brighter when the new institution celebrates its first Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 to October 15) this year.

The museum’s cultural exhibits fill an important gap, says founding chairman Henry R. Muñoz III. “It’s the only museum in the country to tell the story of the Latino experience in the United States,” he says.

For more information, visit the Museo Alameda's website.

Located in San Antonio’s Market Square, Museo Alameda opened in April. It’s the nation’s largest Latino museum and the Smithsonian Institution’s first formal affiliate. With 20,000 square feet of exhibition space, the museum expects to attract more than 400,000 visitors a year. Featured artists include Franco Mondini-Ruiz, who designed the museum’s gift shop, and Botánica, an exhibit that replicates a typical South Texas botánica filled with religious candles and statues. 

The Museo will diversify into other art forms when a renovated Alameda Theater reopens in 2009. Working with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., it will host Latino-flavored plays, films, and other major programs.