The Met Museum Presents ¡FIESTA! CELEBRATE LATIN AMERICA/ CELEBREN AMERICA LATINA, Today

¡Fiesta! Celebrate Latin America/Celebren América Latina-a museum-wide cultural celebration marking Hispanic Heritage Month with an emphasis on programs for families-will take place on Saturday, September 27, from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan's seventh annual ¡Fiesta! will feature programs for visitors of all ages, including artist-led art-making and poetry workshops, music and dance performances, hands-on explorations of the art of the ancient Americas, and other exciting activities related to the Museum's collection. Together, these programs celebrate the diversity of cultures from across Latin America and bridge creative expression across time and geography. ¡Fiesta! is organized by the Museum's Multicultural Audience Development Initiative and the Education Department. All ¡Fiesta! events are free with Museum admission.

¡Fiesta! is made possible by the Great Circle Foundation and the New York Yankees Foundation.

Events and Programs
Festivities will begin at 1:00 p.m. in the Museum's Great Hall with an opening dance performance by vibrantly costumed dancers from the folkloric dance ensemble Calpulli Danza Mexicana. At1:30 p.m., BHdos will lead an introductory salsa dance lesson in the Vélez Blanco Patio, and artistIrvin Climaco Morazan will perform The Magus-in which he transforms himself with a fantastical headdress that produces sounds, inspired by objects nearby-in the Museum's Oceanic art galleries. Also at 1:30, 2:00, and 2:30 p.m., a poetry and spoken-word workshop titled "The Art of Words" led by Tony Award®-winner Lemon Andersen (recommended for visitors ages 7 and up) will allow participants to write their own verses in the Bonnie J. Sacerdote Lecture Hall. At 2:00 and 3:00 p.m., families with children ages 3 and older will enjoy quiet time atStorytime/Cuentacuentos as they listen to stories in English and Spanish in the Nolen Library. At2:30 and 3:30 p.m., visitors will see the Museum's collection through an artist's eyes in Artists on Artworks, a discussion and brief tour led by multimedia artist Antonia Perez of some of her favorite works, beginning at the Vélez Blanco Patio. At 2:30, 3:00, and 3:30 p.m. Calpulli Danza Mexicana will perform folkloric dance inspired by Mexico's diverse cultures in The Charles Engelhard Court. The afternoon's grand finale will take place at 4:00 p.m. in The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, with exciting performances by poet and actor Lemon Andersen, dancers fromBHdos, and Nelson González and his All Star Band.

Additionally, a broad selection of art-making activities for families will be ongoing from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. These include a weaving workshop and demonstration, featuring textile artist Ruben Marroquin in Carson Family Hall; a digital mural-making workshop with Raúl Ayala on the Great Hall Balcony, in which drawings inspired by the Museum's collection of pre-Columbian art will become part of the artist's digital mural projection Chakana; and a drop-in drawing workshop with educators from the Met, who will encourage visitors to create work inspired by movement. Also ongoing is a mask-making workshop, in which participants will make masks inspired by the artwork of Irvin Climaco Morazan. (This workshop will include an opportunity to meet the artist and ask questions between 3:00 and 4:00). At 2:00 and 3:00 p.m., Met assistant curator James Doyle will guide visitors on a close look at works of art from the pre-Incan Andean Wari culture and a 1,500-year-old wall painting from Teotihuacan, Mexico, respectively. (This program is in Spanish and English.)

General Event Information
¡Fiesta! program information and directions to events throughout the Museum will be available at the Information Desk inside the main entrance at Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street, and in the Uris Center for Education, located near the ground-floor entrance at Fifth Avenue and 81st Street. All¡Fiesta! programs are free with Museum admission. Recommended Museum admission is $25 for adults, $17 for seniors (65 and over), and $12 for students. Children under 12 accompanied by an adult are free.

About the Multicultural Audience Development Initiative
The Multicultural Audience Development Initiative began more than 10 years ago at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It reflects the Museum's founding mission to educate and inspire by reaching out to all of its constituencies, including the many diverse communities of the New York tri-state area. Its objectives are to increase awareness of the Museum's global collections and programs, to diversify its visitorship and Membership, and to increase participation in its programs.

Photo Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Website