Culture in living color: for more than 30 years, the Art Museum of the Americas in the heart of the US capital has showcased the best in fine art from the OAS member countries.

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Just a short walk away from some of the most important monuments in Washington, DC, the Art Museum of the Americas--part of the Organization of American States (OAS)--celebrates and promotes free art from across the Western Hemisphere. Described by more than one newspaper as a "hidden gem" in the US capital, the museum opened its doors some 30 years ago, but its roots go back more than half a century. Throughout its history, with the support of the OAS member countries, this small, specialized museum has given artists of the Americas an international foothold and helped to shape a regional artistic identity.

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It was during the 1940s--back when Latin American and Caribbean art was largely unknown outside the countries that produced it; when Latin American art galleries in the United States closed as quickly as they opened; when artists from the region sought to express themselves on their own terms, but in a universal language--that what would become the Art Museum of the Americas gradually began to take shape.

At that time, the Division of Intellectual Cooperation of the Pan American Union (which later became the OAS) was open to anyone who wanted to hold cultural activities and to artists who might want to exhibit their works. The first known exhibition took place in 1941 with 23 sculptures by the well-known and recognized Bolivian artist Marina Nunez del Prado. Other shows followed.

In 1945, Jose Gomez-Sicre was named art specialist for that division, which was taking shape and establishing a monthly exhibition schedule. "I was committed to gaining respect for our art," Gomez-Sicre wrote in 1991. "The only self-imposed prerequisite guiding my selections for exhibitions was the quality with which each artist was able to translate an aesthetic message as a member of the Latin American culture." In other words, his philosophy was completely in line with what the region's artists were thinking at the time.

In fact, since the beginning of the twentieth century, with the wars of independence in the past, a sense of national identity had been taking shape in the region, along with the awareness that although their roots were European, the people of this "new world" no longer were. Yet they could not identify themselves completely with indigenous cultures either, even though these had produced a rich cultural legacy. It was necessary, then, to find a form of expression that was attuned to the needs and concerns of the times, but also one that reflected a regional perspective. In other words, to create up-to-date art at that time meant to express oneself in a visual language that could be understood by all but that would represent its own reality and essence.

To do that, it was necessary to start from scratch, with no historical models to provide guidance and little national support, whether official or from critics or the general public. One of the few exceptions, if not the only one, was the Mexican muralist movement which was created and sustained by the national government. In this context, it is possible to appreciate the level of commitment adopted by the OAS and by many intellectuals, thinkers, and writers of the Americas who were espousing the same ideas. These artists had assigned themselves an enormous task and commitment, since neither the general public nor critics were ready for a new perspective. It is worth recalling, as an example, the first exhibition of Cubist works that the Argentine painter Emilio Pettoruti held in Buenos Aires in 1924, when he returned from Europe. The scandal was inevitable, spurring violent reactions from the public and from critics. This story was repeated in many other countries where "modern" artists had the audacity to exhibit their works.

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Despite always-present economic challenges and other problems, the OAS effort continued. In 1949, Gomez-Sicre himself made the first donation to what would become the "permanent collection." It was an oil painting by the Brazilian artist Candido Portinari, Retorno da Feira, created in 1940. In 1957, at the initiative of the Permanent Representative of Mexico to the OAS, Ambassador Luis Quintanilla, the Permanent Council approved the establishment of a fund to acquire one work from each temporary exhibition, in order to begin putting together a permanent collection that would represent the best of the region's art. These were difficult times, but people did the best they could, and both the staff of the institution and the artists themselves showed enormous dedication to the task and believed in its importance. The Venezuelan artist Hector Poleo recalled that in 1947, when he exhibited his paintings and drawings at what was still the Pan American Union--it would become the OAS the following year--he had to bring his own hammer and nails to hang his pieces himself.

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Based on these modest but never dull beginnings, the collection began to grow, and the number of activities increased. The principal creators of fine art from Latin America and the Caribbean exhibited at the OAS, and many of them justifiably went on to be known as "masters." For some, this was their first exhibition outside their national borders. In fact, some exhibitions sold out completely, such as the drawings shown by the Mexican artist Jose Luis Cuevas in 1954.

As one indication of this program's influence in the Washington area, when an exhibition was held featuring "Masters of Latin America and the Caribbean in Washington Collections" (December 1988-March 1989), it turned out that many of the works included had been acquired at OAS exhibitions by local residents, not only people from Latin America and the Caribbean but also from the United States. That also speaks to the quality and diversity of the works that were exhibited.

Those years also saw the first donations from individuals and companies that were interested in promoting greater awareness of these artists. When the collection outgrew its space, many pieces were distributed to different OAS offices for display and better preservation. The quality and number of works also made it possible to provide some of them on loan to other museums for special exhibitions.

Meanwhile, this activity made it possible to amass a rich collection of documents that today constitute the Art Archives of the Museum of the Americas. These archives in a sense are the backbone of the permanent collection: Just as the art collection visually tells the story of the development of art in the hemisphere, so the archives relate its ups and downs and its struggles. They are also an unending source of information and reference for art students and researchers, since they include material not easily found in other places, such as newspaper clippings, commentaries by critics, monographs, photographs, artists' personal letters, and other types of documentation. Currently, this archive is maintained almost entirely by groups of student interns, or other interested individuals who generously donate their time while they learn by doing.

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At the same time, the Audiovisual Program began to be developed over many years until it comprised a respectable collection of color slides and videos that encompass a broad view of different cultural aspects of the OAS member countries, from pre-Columbian archaeological sites to documentary films on the lives and works of the artists.

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Finally, in 1976, at the initiative of the Permanent Representative of Venezuela to the OAS, Ambassador Jose Maria Machin, the Permanent Council unanimously adopted a resolution establishing an inter-American modern art museum in Washington, DC, to commemorate the bicentennial of independence of the United States, the country that from the beginning had hosted the Pan American Union and then the OAS. The resolution also agreed to provide the necessary funds so that the elegant 1912 house that had once served as a residence for OAS Secretaries General would be remodeled in order to accommodate the museum.

The creation of the Art Museum of the Americas not only paid homage to the United States, but it marked the crowning point of long and arduous efforts in support of Latin American and Caribbean culture. It didn't create miracles, however. Existing problems such as economic concerns and shortage of space would continue over the years.

Nevertheless, the Art Museum of the Americas has continued to grow and be enriched. Its permanent collection, which at the time of its opening had 250 works, now has more than 2,000 pieces, including paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, installations, and photographs. It has continued to receive donations from private collectors; among the most recent are works by the Chilean artist Roberto Matta, donated last year by the heirs of an OAS pioneer in the music field, maestro Guillermo Espinosa, and two works by Marcelo Bonevardi of Argentina, donated by Bernice Weinstein. In addition, thanks to donations by the permanent observer missions of China, Qatar, and Turkey, renovations have recently been made to the historic museum building.

The rich variety of works in the permanent collection allows for continued loans to be made to other institutions in the United States and abroad. In recent months, the Inter-American Development Bank, through its Cultural Center, presented an exhibition that consisted exclusively of works in the museum collection. That show encompassed 39 works by artists from throughout the Caribbean. Earlier this year, the Latino Cultural Center in Dallas, Texas, presented "The Art of the Print," featuring woodcuts, engravings, and lithographs from the Art Museum of the Americas collection. Over the years, The Dead Student (also known as The Wake), a major work by Colombian artist Alejandro Obregon, has been loaned to museums in New York, Miami, San Diego, Bogota, and Santiago, to name just a few. That painting, which belongs to a series on the period in Colombia's history known as la violencia, won the national prize for Colombia at the 1956 Guggenheim International Exhibition in New York.

Due to budget constraints and space restrictions, the Art Museum of the Americas no longer features as many solo shows as it once did, but it continues to display works from its permanent collection and present major exhibits in collaboration with the OAS member countries and with other cultural institutions. Recent examples include: Imagining Guatemala, an exhibition of photographs capturing that Central American country's history over the past 150 years; Landings 5, an exhibition of installation art organized from Belize and featuring contemporary artists from Central America, the Caribbean, and Southeastern Mexico; and !Merengue! Visual Rhythms, exploring how this distinctive music and dance genre has shaped culture in the Dominican Republic. Two exhibitions have focused on artists of the diaspora: New Possessions, showcasing works by Jamaican artists in the United States, and Breaking Borders, which brought together photography and digital art produced by Salvadorans living abroad. These exhibitions provided a new perspective on a complex issue such as migration, which encompasses issues of national and individual identity in the Americas, both in the countries that are the source of immigrants as well as in those that receive them.

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The museum's temporary exhibitions have also led to the creation of a program of "family workshops," designed not only for children but also for adults. Participants visit the museum, where the works are explained and discussed, and the children then make their own creations, inspired by what they have seen. This program has had considerable success and allows the museum to work with area schools. At the same time, conferences on Latin American and Caribbean art and cultural themes continue to be offered.

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Lately, the museum has begun a program called Cine Americas. Although some would argue that the cinema does not fall under the category of the free arts, it could also be said that both commercial films and documentaries provide an extraordinary medium with which to promote cultural and artistic expression. This activity was made possible thanks to a generous contribution by the Brazilian government through its permanent mission to the OAS. The donation allowed the museum to modify and equip its gallery space in order to be able to project films. The program was launched with a well-attended screening of the award-winning 1998 Brazilian film Central do Brasil (Central Station), presented with the support of the Brazilian-American Cultural Institute. Additional Brazilian films followed, and others from different countries will allow the continuation of this program.

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Over the years, the Art Museum of the Americas has been a pioneer in guiding and disseminating the region's art and creating international awareness about its importance. Artists from throughout the region would tend to agree with what the Argentine abstract painter Eduardo Mac Entyre once said: "For many, many years, the Museum of the Americas has sheltered and promoted creative people in Latin America and the Caribbean. The result has been the emergence of great artists who today are internationally renowned and who have used their creativity to promote and express a substantial part of the region's culture."

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Annick Sanjurjo Casciero was born in Asuncion, Paraguay. She has a degree in literature and is a previous contributor to Americas. She is the author of two volumes entitled Contemporary Artists: Exhibitions at the Organization of American States, 1941-1964 and 1965-1985.