Image courtesy of Nuestro Stories.
There’s a building in Chicago that looks like something out of a medieval fantasy TV show — like Game of Thrones, but it actually serves as the home of the National Museum of Puerto Rican Art and Culture (NMPRAC).
The National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture is a museum that has been dedicated to celebrating Puerto Rican art and culture for 22 years and is located in the Humboldt Park Receptory Building and Stable.
The NMPRAC’s building is an asymmetrical ensemble of spires, turrets, arches, beams, and diamond-shaped windows. The facility blends Queen Anne and the old German style of farmhouse architecture. It was completed in 1896 and housed stables for visitors and park staff.
The National Museum of Puerto Rican Art and Culture (formally known as the Institute of Puerto Rican Art and Culture) was founded in 2000 by members of Chicago’s Puerto Rican community and local arts and culture supporters. It was under renovation for seven years, and in 2014 changed its name to reflect its status as the only museum dedicated to Puerto Rican arts and culture.
Eventually, it also received national accreditation through the American Alliance of Museums, which placed it in the company of other major museums in the country.
Today, the museum continues to fulfill its mission of celebrating Puerto Rican identity, as well as its culture, the history of the diaspora through art, and the different contributions to the city of Chicago and the United States’ economic, artistic, cultural, educational, and social development.
Things You Should Know Before You Go:
- The NMPRAC is the nation’s only independent museum dedicated to exhibiting Puerto Rican art and culture year-round.
- The renovation of the building cost $7 million.
- The Puerto Rican Museum was named the latest Museum in the City of Chicago Park in February 2012.
- The museum complex and the Park were included in the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
- The building in which the museum is housed was designated a Chicago Landmark in 2008.
Location: Chicago, IL, U.S.
Address: 3015 W Division St, Chicago, IL 60622, USA
Experience it here
