Fact Sheet “Down These Mean Streets: Community and Place in Urban Photography”
Exhibition
“Down These Mean Streets: Community and Place in Urban Photography”
May 12 – Aug. 6
Where
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Eighth and F streets N.W.
Description
America’s urban streets have long inspired documentary photographers. “Down These Mean Streets: Community and Place in Urban Photography” explores the work of 10 photographers—Manuel Acevedo, Oscar Castillo, Frank Espada, Anthony Hernandez, Perla de Leon, Hiram Maristany, Ruben Ochoa, John Valadez, Winston Vargas, and Camilo José Vergara—who were driven to document and reflect on the transformation of American cities beginning in the 1950s. The title of the exhibition is drawn from Piri Thomas’ classic memoir Down These Mean Streets (1967), where the author narrates his upbringing in New York City’s El Barrio. Like Thomas, these photographers turn a critical eye toward neighborhoods that exist on the margins of major cities such as New York and Los Angeles. The exhibition is drawn entirely from the museum’s collection and showcases many new acquisitions by Latino artists. It offers a chance to see how these photographers responded to the urban crisis in the communities where they lived and worked. The exhibition is organized by E. Carmen Ramos, deputy chief curator and curator of Latino art.
Opening Program – Poetry Reading
Friday, May 12, at 6:30 p.m., award-winning poets Martín Espada, Naomi Ayala and Sami Miranda read poems inspired by photographs featured in the exhibition. Information about other exhibition-related public programs is online at americanart.si.edu/calendar.
Credit
The Latino Initiatives Pool of the Smithsonian Latino Center provided generous support for the new acquisitions featured in this exhibition. The Bernie Stadiem Endowment Fund supports the installation and programs.
About the Smithsonian American Art Museum and its Renwick Gallery
The Smithsonian American Art Museum is the flagship museum in the United States for American art and craft. It is home to one of the most significant and inclusive collections of American art in the world. The museum’s main building, located at Eighth and G streets N.W., is open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. The museum’s Renwick Gallery, a branch museum dedicated to contemporary craft, is located on Pennsylvania Avenue at 17th Street N.W. and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Check online for current hours and admission information. Admission is free. Follow the museum on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Smithsonian information: (202) 633-1000. Museum information (recorded): (202) 633-7970. Website: americanart.si.edu.
