The Pan American Museum

9 THE PAN AMERICAN MUSEUM

BACKGROUND: As a result of the generosity of a great many American corporations
with Latin American branches and Latin American interests, there was constructed
in 1965 the Pan American Center. The project was initiated in company with the
Organization of American States, whose Secretary General appointed a special
committee of the Secretariat to oversee the project and assist in contacts with the Latin American nations. The building was dedicated as a part of quadricentennial
ceremonies in St. Augustine September 5th, 1965, by Dr. Jose Mora, Secretary
General of the OAS, Dr. William Sanders, Assistant Secretary General, and
Ambassador Juan Plate, Chairman of the Council of the OAS, with the assistance
of the Secretaries of the Interior of the United States and of Spain, the Governor
of Florida and Senator Spessard L. Holland as the presiding officer. (See the
attached brochure "San Agustin and the Americas". )

THE BUILDING: The building is the colonial Marin-Hasset House, reconstructed
on its original foundations. The main portion and first wing are of early Spanish masonry construction (The Marin House), with an attached wing from the English
or second Spanish period reflecting the mixed architecture characteristic of the
late 18th century. The building is symbolic of the mixed origins of the countries
of the southern hemisphere: predominantly Hispanic or Portuguese, but with
many of the Caribbean Islands reflective of English culture. The front portions of the building reflect the former, the rear, the latter. Into the interior of the
building have been built display cases for various types of objects, with a supervisory office at the rear of the second floor and a supervisory booth on the first
floor.

THE GARDEN: A Plazoleta, in the fashion seen in both Spain and Latin America,
occupies the area to the south of the building, linking it to the Spanish Center just
to the south. The area is developed and landscaped as a lovely plazoleta, which
is dominated by the statue of Queen Isabella in the center. This was sculpted and
presented by Anna Hyatt Huntington whose interest, with that of her husband Archer
Huntington, in the Hispanic world is well known. The statue and the garden symbolize the link of Spain, the mother country, with her erstwhile colonies, now
the independent nations of Latin America--for it was Queen Isabella who initiated
the exploration of the New World. The garden has been made possible by the
generosity of Mrs. Alfred I. duPont, supplemented by contributions from garden
clubs and other organizations.

CAPITAL PROJECT COSTS: Pan American Center
Donated Expended
Land: $25,000 $ 25, 000
Building Construction: 27,066 27,066
Garden:
Land and Construction: 50, 266 52,878 Initial Exhibits Fund: 18, 751 15, 455 Total $121. 083 $120, 399 40,000*
*:'Mortgage for adjacent land necessary for Pan American $160, 399
Center, secured by first and second mortgages guaranteed
by -nonymous donor.







The Pan American Museum--2



PAN AMERICAN MUSEUM: It is the objective of the sponsoring organizations,
St. Augustine Restoration, Inc., and the Pan American Union to make this the greatest museum of the Hispanic arts in the United States, in company with the Spanish government museum across the street, where the ultimate objective is
to create in its Casa del Hidalgo a museum of Spanish arts. The Spanish government is taking the financial responsibility for accomplishing this, as it did for
the construction of the building. It has placed in it a number of temporary pieces,
which it is gradually replacing from the museums of Spain.

THE PAN AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY, in Mexico City,
a specialized organization of the Organization of American States, has through its Secretary General, Ig. Carlos Forray Rojas, instituted a program of solicitation throughout the Latin American world on behalf of the museum. They
have addressed themselves to the foreign minister of each country, to the principal scholarly organization there, and to their specialized branches of the
Institute in these countries. Already responses are beginning to roll in, highly favorable, to their request for the donation and loan of objects for the museum
and for certain circulating exhibits, as well as books for the Pan American
Library.

To build a planned collection of the highest quality, there will also be necessary
a permanent acquisitions fund, to supplement and enlarge the initial fund of the Pan American Center. Numerous important acquisitions of pre-Columbian and
Hispanic arts have already been made, and important exhibitions have been drawn
from these collections, as well as from loan exhibits.

EXHIBITS:

1. 'Contemporary art of Latin American", assembled from all the countries of
Latin America by the Visual Arts Division of the Pan American Union.

Z. "Textiles, Gold and Ceramics of Peru", drawn from a private collection.

3. "The Folk Art of Mexico", popular arts acquired with the assistance of
the Museum of Popular Arts in Mexico City, and made a part of the permanent
collection.

4. "Colonial Wood Sculpture of Mexico", acquired with the assistance of Mexican
authorities and made a part of the permanent collection.

5. "Pre-Columbian Art of Costa Rica", from the collections of a private owner
in San Jose and the National Museum of Costa Rica.

6. "Watercolors and Decorative Drawings of Mexican Children", a Smithsonian
Institution circulating exhibit.

7. "Textiles and Jewelry of Latin America", drawn from private collections, and
from the permanent collection of the museum.








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In the 20 months since the opening of the building, there have thus been a series of major exhibits of very high quality. It is the desire of the museum to perfect
its permanent collections and place them on display, allocating some of the galleries
in the building for changing exhibits.

PAN AMERICAN MUSEUM FUND: It is desired to establish an initial fund of $100, 000
as an endowment, which would return an annual purchase budget of $5, 000 a year
for planned acquisition of items, supplemented by individual gifts in three and four figures annually, so that the Curator can build the collections with at least $10, 000
annually available. Alternate gifts are sought in the form of pledges over a period
of three to five years of a given amount per year, in the absence of a permanent
endowment fund.

The sponsoring organizatinn, St. Augustine Restoration, Inc., is a corporation not for profit under the laws of Florida, and has received permission from the
Bureau of Internal Revenue to receive tax exempt gifts.


































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