MUSAN is a new concept for Santurce’s cultural scene!
A new interdisciplinary, intergenerational, community-oriented arts space!
MUSAN originally began as a new home for ‘Museo de los Santos’ – which has been dedicated to Puerto Rican art and intangible cultural heritage through our collection of ‘santos’ – the traditional folk-art of Puerto Rico. Founded in 2005, Museo de los Santos became a non-profit corporation in 2018 and is approved by the IRS and Hacienda de Puerto Rico. We purchased our new building at 1673 Avenue Ponce de Leon in the Santurce Arts District in 2019.
During renovation, we met dozens of neighborhood artists.
Based on their feedback, we started to see the project in a new light.
Local artists appreciated a new museum, but what they really needed was a space to showcase their work in front of an audience. We spoke to artists, actors, playwrights, dancers, poets, musicians, puppeteers, glass artists, performance artists, comedians, sculptors, makers, designers and more. Their common plea was ‘please give us space for public exposure, audience feedback and experimentation!’.
We realized that emerging artists may not have access to established museums, galleries, theaters, or performance venues exactly because they don’t have experience.
So, we re-thought our idea of a traditional museum.
We rebranded the project as MUSAN – Museo de los Santos y Arte National.
MUSAN would expand our mission and provide a permanent home to our collection of santos and mid-century art and use this as an inspiration for contemporary artistic expression and experimentation.
MUSAN will serve as a combination of traditional museum and an arts-laboratory where new ideas and artists emerge.
MUSAN will provide the venue for artists to present their work, build an audience, reputation and find out what happens when concept meets audience.
MUSAN will support and maintain the arts community of Santurce. As the neighborhood evolves, we don’t want to lose the artists who made this neighborhood one of the most dynamic arts communities fall victim to rapid gentrification.
MUSAN will be a bridge between traditional communities, new residents, and artists.
-Older audiences may visit to see traditional Santos and be intrigued by works in our ‘Next Wave’ gallery.
-Tourists may visit our collection of mid-century master paintings and be intrigued by traditional Puerto Rican folk-art in our ‘Artisan’s Gallery’ or Oral History Project in our ‘Digital Gallery’.
-Local artists may find new markets for their work in our ‘Santurce Gallery’ or annual ‘Local Artists’ Marketplace’.
-Visitors to our main gallery for curated exhibitions may be delighted by our showcase for glass artists in our ‘Stained Glass Gallery’.
-MUSAN will have something for everyone to discover and expand their artistic appreciation.
MUSAN is currently completing our ‘soft opening’ at our new home at 1673 Avenue Ponce de Leon in Santurce near 787Coffee, Leonardo’s and BASE.
Your support will help us complete galleries for our official opening in Spring 2022!