BALTIMORE, Md. — It’s 128 years in the making. A new, permanent art exhibit at the Walters Museum in downtown Baltimore, the museum’s first dedicated to Latin America. WMAR 2 News got an exclusive, behind-the-scenes tour of Arte Latino Americano.
Baltimore artist Melissa Hyatt Foss is playing a replica she made of an ancient Peruvian instrument called a whistling bottle. She’s one of several local artists whose work is featured here.
The Walters Museum has more than 800 pieces in its Latin American collection. And it all started with a little silver cup.
“It’s a ritual drinking cup known as an aquilla made in silver by artists in Peru between about 900 and 1100,” says Ellen Hoobler, William B. Ziff, Jr., curator of art of the Americas. “Henry Walters purchased it from Tiffany and Company in New York in 1897 and it seems that was the beginning of his love affair with ancient American objects.”
Something old, something new.
The exhibit has about 200 ancient artifacts and contemporary pieces on display. They cover about 4,000 years of history and are drawn from 40 different cultures across Latin America.
“These are galleries for everyone,” Hoobler says. “People who wanna better understand the past of the American continent. People who are drawing artistic inspiration or even musical inspiration. Or maybe culinary inspiration.”
Baltimore ties run throughout this interactive exhibit. Like a display of ancient corn pots and a video on the history of corn in Latin America with executive chef Carlos Raba of Clavel, a popular local Mexican restaurant.
“It’s said that Baltimore is a city of artists, and I would have to agree,” Hoobler says. “We have works on view from Edgar Reyes, a Baltimore-based artist who is also a professor at UMBC. He’s riffing on his own Mexican heritage.”
You’ll also see art from Nicaraguan native and Baltimorean Jessy DeSantis, and a display of ancient instruments, accompanied by a video of Foss.
Arte Latino Americano opened Saturday and the exhibit is ongoing.
