How to become a volunteer at the first Latino art gallery on the National Mall
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The Molina Family Latino Gallery will open its doors next year at the National Museum of American History, becoming the first museum space on the National Mall dedicated to Latino arts, culture and history.
The new gallery marks a major milestone in the multi-year campaign for a national Latino museum. Those efforts met success last December when Congress passed legislation authorizing two new Smithsonian museums, including the National Museum of the American Latino exclusively dedicated to Latino history, arts and culture in the United States. Still, it’s expected to be several years before the museum is designed, built and finally open to the public, underscoring the important role the Molina gallery will play in the interim.
When it opens next May, the gallery will need volunteers to lead tours and educational programs, which will share U.S. Latino history with people from all over the world. The Smithsonian Latino Center is looking to fill its volunteer ranks with people who reflect the country’s diverse Latino communities.
We interviewed Natalia Febo, community engagement and volunteers coordinator at the Smithsonian Latino Center, about efforts to recruit new volunteers for training sessions beginning in January.
Febo is very familiar with the Smithsonian’s journey toward a Latino museum. She started out as an intern at the Latino Center. After she received a master’s degree in museum studies from George Washington University, she returned to the center full time to pursue her vocation in the arts. Febo says she cherishes how this long process and volunteer program will become a reality next spring.
“It takes a long time, and a big crew to make it happen,” says Febo, who told us more about the gallery’s first exhibition and the perks of being a Smithsonian volunteer.
Could you tell us a little about the Smithsonian Latino Center and its history?
The Smithsonian Latino Center started in 1997 and works toward preserving Latino history and culture, engaging Latino communities and advancing Latino representation in the United States. We work collaboratively with other Smithsonian museums and research centers to make sure that Latino histories and stories are represented in the collection, in the staff, in the programs, in the events — everywhere across the institution.
What is the history behind the Molina Family Latino Gallery?
We’re working toward opening the Molina Family Latino Gallery next May of 2022. The gallery is named after the lead donor’s father, Dr. C. David Molina. He was in the healthcare field — Molina Healthcare. His children, altogether, made a donation to open this gallery. The Smithsonian is a large institution. There are museums, research centers, the [National] Zoo — not only here in Washington, D.C., but also in New York and Panama. Across the United States, there are other Smithsonian-affiliate museums. We work with other museums, but we never had a permanent space in the National Mall.
I was an intern with the [Smithsonian] Latino Center in 2014. I remember them talking: “Oh, one day we want to have a space.” The children of Dr. C. David Molina made this donation. With that money, the Center was able to secure a space for the gallery at the National Museum of American History. We’ll be inside that museum for the next 10 years once the gallery opens.
Nice. It’s so good that you started from the beginning, and now, you’re working there.
I’m from Puerto Rico. I was studying at the University of Puerto Rico doing a program not related to museums or humanities, but I always had a big passion for arts. I was a volunteer. Then, I worked at the museum of the university where I was studying and fell in love with museums. I decided to switch careers. I did a master’s program in museum studies here in Washington, D.C., at George Washington University.
When I was studying there, I was an intern at museums and organizations and applied to be an intern with the Latino Center. Back then, it was just like, “Oh, look at the sketches of this proposal that we have for this future gallery,” but there was no money. They were just trying to find people to donate so that they could secure a space. It was just a dream on paper. Then, I come back and see that they actually got the donation. They’re going to have a space. That was huge. And then, when I joined the team, I was like, “Oh, my goodness, I’m going to the moon.”
It’s very exciting to see. It’s been a really long process. The planning [for opening the gallery] has also been a long process of putting together the exhibition, acquiring the objects. The exhibit is going to be showcasing objects from different Smithsonian museums and other museums across the United States. Though we are a small staff of 15, we have other people helping put together this exhibition. It takes a long time and a big crew to make it happen.
How is the gallery connected to the plans for a new Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino in the National Mall?
We got the donation from the Molinas a couple years ago.Then in December 2020, Congress passed a bill for the Smithsonian to create the National Museum of the American Latino. It took us completely by surprise. We were like, “What? This is amazing!” It was another dream that had been in the works for many years.
The gallery is going to open next year. It’s supposed to be there for 10 years. The National Museum of African American History and Culture took more than 10 years to make happen — construction and everything. We think it’s gonna be very similar to the National Museum of the American Latino. We will continue working with the gallery. Once the museum is open, then we’ll see what’s next for us.
Are there any COVID-19 restrictions? If so, what are they?
Because the Molina Family Latino Gallery will be inside the American History Museum, we have to follow that museum’s guidelines and those of the Smithsonian Institution, in general. Right now, you have to wear a face mask, regardless of vaccination status. We don’t know what’s gonna happen in spring, but we’ll follow whatever guidelines the institution has in place at that time.
Can you tell us about upcoming exhibitions or events planned for the new gallery? Generally speaking, what are the goals for this new space?
The first exhibition is called “Presente, U.S Latino history.” It’s basically U.S Latino history 101. We want people to learn about people who were here in the United States at the start of Spanish colonization and make sure that we showcase the stories of the indigenous communities that were here. Then, we’re going to show content related to the Spanish American War, the Mexican American War and followed by immigration stories and showing what was happening in immigrants’ home countries and in the United States. We will also have a whole section dedicated to Latino activists and people making an impact in their communities.
We want to make sure that U.S. Latino history is U.S. history. It’s not something separate; it’s something that is part of U.S. history. We want everyone — Latinos and non-Latinos — to learn this history because, sadly, not a lot of people know about it. For instance, I grew up in Puerto Rico; our U.S. history book had one paragraph about Puerto Rico. In the States, people are just learning three sentences about Puerto Rico. So, imagine all the other history out there that people don’t know about. We want to make sure that we present all of that history.
What are the different responsibilities and duties of the gallery docent and the learning lounge volunteer positions? Are you looking for volunteers with different skill sets to fill these two types of positions?
The gallery docents are going to be volunteers to be trained in the content of the gallery. They will also be trained in how to provide highlight tours of the gallery. The Learning Lounge volunteers will also be trained in the content of the gallery but, more specifically, on the content related to hands-on activities that we’re going to be offering in our education space called the Learning Lounge. In general, they will both get trained in the gallery’s content.
Will there be training for volunteers? What will it encompass?
The training is related to the content — the themes of the Spanish-American War, the Mexican-American War, immigration stories, contemporary U.S Latino history. We’ll start with training on the exhibition contents. Docent volunteers will be given guided tours of the gallery. Learning Lounge volunteers will be trained to facilitate activities in the gallery’s educational space. We’re also going to include standard intervention, escalation, accessibility and customer service training, just to make sure we provide all the training that can help the volunteers facilitate the activities or interact with the visitors from all over the world.
If you are comfortable talking to people of different age groups, then maybe this will be a volunteer opportunity that will fit with you. If you’re good at public speaking, then this will definitely fit with you. If you have never done this, why not join us? We will train you. When I started working in museums, I had never led a tour before. They trained me to lead a tour and to speak to specific groups, like children versus adults. For instance, the kind of language and vocabulary I should use for different age groups. That’s the plan with this volunteer program to provide that training. It doesn’t matter if you’ve led tours before. We will train you and practice so that everyone is comfortable.
What are the benefits of joining the volunteer program at Molina Family Latino Gallery?
Volunteers at Smithsonian and ones who will be part of the Molina Family Latino Gallery get special access to lectures, training, and get to see the behind-the-scenes processes of the gallery. Long-term Smithsonian volunteers who are in the program for longer than a day also get Smithsonian benefit perks. If you have a Smithsonian volunteer badge, you can get a discount at Smithsonian stores, Smithsonian restaurants and food courts. Once it opens back up, the Smithsonian has a theater, where volunteers also get discounts.
One of the motives of the Smithsonian Latino Center’s community engagement initiative is to bring the gallery to the community and have people from our community in the gallery not just showing the artifacts and the stories, but activating our education space. We want to have multiple ways to represent the community in the gallery so that people feel, “Oh, you know, this is our gallery, I am comfortable going there. I want to take my kids there. I want to take our school groups there.” That’s what we want to create in this space.
What distinguishes the Molina Family Latino Gallery from other volunteering programs?
Our uniqueness lies in that we’re focusing on U.S. Latino history. Within the Smithsonian, we are the only ones focusing on that. The program is also going to be bilingual because the content of the gallery is bilingual. The training will be in English and Spanish. Our focus is on connecting with the community and having the community represented. I’ve been in contact with a lot of organizations out there to make sure that we recruit representatives of our community and people who want to share the U.S. Latino experience. Other museums might be art or science or American history; ours is just U.S. Latino history.
Why do you think it is important to create voluntary programs about the diverse history of the U.S. Latino experience?
U.S. Latino history is part of U.S. history. It is very important to share those stories — that history with the world. If we can have people from our community be part of that, it will be a great achievement.
Visit the Smithsonian Latino Center’s website to apply for a volunteer position.
—Written by Fernanda Poblete González
—Interview by the SPEL Arts & Humanities Team
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