Things to do in Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico: The Best Art Museums

Its internationally renowned collection comprises more than 5,000 works of art from various cultures, creating a unique dialogue between the Old and New Worlds.

A former convent that’s now a museum of religious artifacts, some of which – like the museum’s walls – date back to 1606.

Located in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the Museo de Arte y Diseno de Miramar (MADMi) an interactive space designed to inspire creativity and innovation through art and design.

La Casa de los Contrafuertes is an independent project open to the public, that started in the year 2012 as an art work which is committed to seek, expose and encourage overlaps among the works of artists of all disciplines focusing on the Caribbean and its diasporas. Our project is organized around the metaphor of the beehive. It is physically nestled, as a site-specific piece, in a historic heritage building, the oldest civil structure in Old San Juan Puerto Rico, which used to be a ruin at the time we began our effort. We were able to restore the building to code with volunteer work and started a beautiful garden of medicinal and edible plants in its courtyard. Work that fosters a collaborative project in continuous development that explores and promotes the porosity of research, creation and exchange processes between artists from different disciplines, from the Caribbean and its diasporas. This voluntary and self-managed initiative, jointly directed by the artists Charles Juhász-Alvarado and Ana Rosa Rivera, saw its origins in 2012. Today, it has continued to grow true to the original vision of promoting conversations, crossings and creation among artists of different backgrounds. fields In this work, the project has hosted a number of activities and exhibitions that have called diverse audiences. Since the building itself was in a state of near ruins at the beginning of the project, the task of enabling it has been the product of collaborative volunteer work. Today the site enjoys clean and bright spaces suitable for work and exhibition, as well as a garden of edible and medicinal plants.

The gallery, located in Puerta de Tierra in the Old San Juan Historic District, was designed by the architect Luis Gutiérrez and the engineer Pedro Muñoz Marín. Five thousand square feet (5,000) dedicated to contemporary art will be divided into three floors. The main floor will show the main exhibits, and the ground floor will become the presentation and storage area. The third floor, a magnificent roof top garden overlooking the San Juan Bay area will host gatherings and outdoor exhibits. In addition to an inventory of the works of the artists represented, a limited selection of prints will be available for acquisition. The concept of WOCA is to create a space that goes beyond the commercial aspect of a traditional gallery. “My goal is to break with the traditional gallery model, by integrating institutional and educational components, as well as the publishing and archiving of items within the gallery. As part of its educational agenda, the gallery will host art lectures by specialists in painting, photography and conceptual art; in addition to producing catalogues written by renowned local and international critics. “Furthermore, we want to develop alliances and partnerships with schools and art institutions, encouraging and motivating the next generation of local artists. My goal is that the gallery will become a facilitator for young artists into the international market, as well as to keep developing my roster of established ones.” said Walter Otero. WOCA will continue positioning its artists in the international market by participating in art fairs and special projects.Among the institutions which whom Otero has worked with include: The Puerto Rico Art Museum, The Puerto Rico Contemporary Art Museum, Ponce Art Museum, Puerto Rico, Museo Del Barrio, New York, Chicago Cultural Center, MCA, Panama Contemporary Art museum, Bass Museum, Miami, MOCAA LA, MOLAA, Hirshhorn Museum, Bronx Museum, Dommus Atrium, Spain and The New Museum, New York. Otero also assisted in the presentations in Puerto Rico of exhibitions featuring LaChappelle, Matthias Weischer, David Schnell, The Rubells Family Collection and the upcoming Bill Viola show (2013). Over the last decade, Walter Otero has been a key figure on international collectionism in Puerto Rico by intelligently assessing those who want to create or complete a collection. He has managed to make Puerto Rico the new home of many important collections from celebrated artists including Anselm Kiefer, Nan Golding, Ana Mendieta, Doo Goo Sue, The Chapman Brothers, Bill Viola, Matthew Barney, Immendorf, Kara Walker, Julian Schnabel, Alex Katz, among many others.WOCA, has a solid group of international renowned artists which include: Allora y Calzadilla, Ángel Otero, Andrés Serrano, Arnaldo Roche Rabell, Axel Ruiz, Carlos Betancourt, Fabián Marcaccio, Gamaliel Rodríguez, Héctor Arce Espasas, Ignacio Lang, Luis Vidal, Michael Linares, Mónica Rodríguez, Osvaldo Budet, Rafael Vega, Ramón Miranda Beltrán, Shonah Trescott and Víctor Vázquez.

This structure located in the heart of San German used to be the home of the Ramirez de Arellano family, a well-known family in the 20th century. Today, this two story building is an all-around museum that consists of nine exhibition rooms that feature significant religious objects and paintings from important artists from the Island. It even has a visual representation of the "original" Ramirez de Arellano family dinning room.