Out & About
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
The Rainbow Room’s views of the city often overshadow the razzle-dazzle of the people gathered in its Art Deco ballroom. Not so on Thursday night, when patrons of El Museo del Barrio threw one of the most festive parties of the year.
The women were beautiful. The men knew how to dance. The atmosphere was warm and friendly, thanks to a guest list that mixed ages, nationalities, and professions. Even senior partners at top law firms did the cha-cha.
What really made the party a success, though, was what’s been happening at the museum. El Museo Del Barrio, devoted to Latin American art, is raising its profile with important exhibits, acquisitions, and a renovation of its building that will transform the lobby and courtyard and add a cafe with views of Central Park. The timing is right, as international interest in Latin American art and the market for it is growing. Not to mention the increasing political and cultural influence of Spanish speakers in America.
Though his schedule has started to include jet-setting trips to contemporary art fairs at Madrid and Sao Paulo, the director of the museum, Julian Zugazagoitia, emphasized outreach to the Latin American communities living next to the museum in East Harlem. “A new breed of citizen is being shaped,” Mr. Zugazagoitia said.
The museum is also strengthening ties to business and cultural leaders of Latin American countries. The guests of honor Thursday night were a former president of Colombia who now resides in New York, Cesar Gaviria, and the chairman of the Mexican-based Grupo Televisa, Emilio Azcarraga Jean. Both men praised the museum’s role in helping Americans understand Latin American culture – first in English, then in Spanish.
At the Rainbow Room, the most enthusiastic salsa dancers tended to be members of the museum’s board, such as the chairman, Tony Bechara, and colleagues Carmen Ana Unanue, Gabriella Neri, Ambassador Jorge Pinto Mazal, and Yaz Hernandez.
Mrs. Unanue joined Estrellita Brodsky and Carmen Nelson as co-chairwomen of the event, the museum’s 12th annual gala.
Guests included the governor of Puerto Rico, Sila Maria Calderon; artist Gloria Garfinkel; Style.com’s fashion director Candy Pratts Price, and the director of the Mexican Cultural Institute, Generoso Villareal Garza.
