Joe Solis’ recent article in the Current critiquing the Museo Alameda has a number of problems, although I agree with the general sentiment that the Museo needs to improve its curatorial work and engage with a broader spectrum of San Antonio’s Latino (and non-Latino) community. Two recent developments give me hope that the Museo leadership is starting to realize the importance of these goals.

First, the initiation of a “free day” (with outside funding) will encourage the lower-income segments of the community to explore what the Museo has to offer. Oddly, Solis takes umbrage at this free admission day, calling it a “bribe”. He cites the popularity of other local museums to show that the Alameda doesn’t need to allow free admission — but he completely ignores the fact that two of the three museums he cites also have “free days”, and that it is a standard practice in the museum industry. He’s right that this isn’t going to solve all the museums outreach problems, but it is certainly a step in the right direction.

On the curatorial end of things, the Museo has finally put together a show I’m genuinely interested in seeing. Alex Rubio and Vincent Valdez, two well-respected local artists, will be sharing the museum for an exhibition called “Pride of the Southside: En el Mero Hueso”. This show should certainly bring out the art community in droves (Rubio’s recent show at Artpace was packed), and should also be the kind of work that a broader audience can connect with. It should even entice those people alienated by recent Alameda shows that politicized Day of the Dead and anglicized the huipil. Solis doesn’t even mention this exhibit, which opens next week, in his article.

Again, any real solution to the lack of outreach and weak programming will have to involve deeper changes in the Museo, but I’m seeing some encouraging developments at “the pink lady on Commerce” (as Solis calls it), which I hope are indicative of a more meaningful long-term strategy and a shift in the administrative culture (this will be the key).

P.S. Note to Joe Solis — the Museo Alameda is not a “division of the Smithsonian Museum”, not by a long shot. The Museo Alameda is a Smithsonian Affiliate, along with many other museums around the country. The Current should run a correction.

UPDATE: I just learned that the Museo Alameda pulled an ad from the Current due to Solis’ article. The ad was for the upcoming Alex Rubio / Vincent Valdez exhibit. If the leadership at the Museo thinks this is the best way to address criticism from the media, then it is clearly working against the organization’s own stated mission. The Museo was apparently built to encourage dialogue between cultures, but as soon as a discussion about the efficacy of the organization begins, the folks at the Alameda try to shut it down. Solis rightly identified a deficit in the Museo’s outreach efforts; in response they damage that very outreach effort in an act of petty retaliation. This mindset, if it continues, is going to doom the museum and ultimately damage the community it is apparently trying to enrich. This isn’t about whose “team” we’re on; it’s about working together as a community towards mutual understanding and respect. If the Alameda wants to shut down dialogue, then they do so at their own risk. Currently the conventional wisdom in the arts community is decidedly critical of the museum; even if the Museo is able to blackmail every media source into silence, that won’t change a thing.

UPDATE 2: The Current has also covered the Alameda in the context of their city funding, and Chairman Henry Muñoz’s involvement with the city-funded Luminaria arts night. This is, I think, a more sensible and well-researched piece. It also has a fabulous photo of Muñoz.

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