Smithsonian Latino Center Announces $1 Million Gift From Bank of America To Support Latino Gallery

The Smithsonian Latino Center has announced a $1 million gift from Bank of America to support the opening of the Molina Family Latino Gallery at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. The gift establishes Bank of America as one of the first corporate benefactors to support the Latino Gallery.

“The Latino Center and Bank of America both value the preservation of culture,” said Eduardo Díaz, director of the Smithsonian Latino Center. “This is why we’re honored to have Bank of America as a grand-opening sponsor.”

As the nation’s gallery dedicated to celebrating the U.S. Latino experience, the Molina Family Latino Gallery will present stories of discovery, identity, migration, innovation, entrepreneurship and success to millions of diverse, intergenerational audiences. The 4,500-square-foot gallery is scheduled to open in 2022, coinciding with the Smithsonian Latino Center’s 25th anniversary.

“America’s history has been written in part by the many contributions of Latinos and their heritage,” said Larry Di Rita, Washington, D.C. market president for Bank of America. “The Molina Family Latino Gallery will help tell that story for the first time on America’s town square, at the Smithsonian Institution on the National Mall. We’re proud to be part of that.” 

For more than three decades, Bank of America has supported Smithsonian museums and cultural initiatives, including lead support of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Museum of the American Indian, the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative and the Our Shared Future: Reckoning with Our Racial Past initiative.

About the Smithsonian Latino Center

The Smithsonian Latino Center preserves Latino history and culture, engaging Latino communities and advancing Latino representation in the United States. Since 1997, the center has successfully ensured that the contributions of the Latino community are celebrated and represented throughout the Smithsonian Institution. For more information, visit www.latino.si.edu.

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SI-15-2021