Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico — Attraction in San Juan

Unfortunately, I have to give this museum a low grade because of the bad experience I had there.

I was excited to visit a couple of exhibitions I had learned of, and showed up on a Tuesday at about noon. At the front desk, I was told that one of the exhibitions had closed and only one, upstairs, was open. I decided to still view the upstairs exhibition, even though I would still have to pay full price for the one exhibition.

I went to the gift store to pay, paid, and headed upstairs for the exhibition. As soon as I arrived on the second floor, a woman asked if she could help me. She was about 100 feet away from me. I told her I was headed to the exhibit. She asked where my red band was. I told her i didn't have one, but i had paid downstairs. She demanded that I come with her on the elevator and escorted me to the gift store to prove that I had paid. At that point, I was so put off that i just asked for my money back. One of the people at the cash register angrily handed me my money back. No one asked why or cared why I was leaving without seeing the exhibit.

The woman definitely came off as super racist (she mentioned that someone earlier had come upstairs without a band and she had not come down with them). She had several options (1: ask me to get a band; 2: call downstairs to confirm that I had paid; 3: realize that the chances are pretty low that I came upstairs to the only exhibit in an empty museum without paying and let me see the exhibition) but she chose to embarrass me. It left a horrible taste in my mouth and I'll never go back to that museum again. I recommend that museum train ALL staff on ways not to be racist to their guests (I recommend tallersalud dot com slash racismo for resources in anti black racism in Puerto Rico) so that everyone can come and...

So glad we had a chance to check out este museo! One of the coolest contemporary art museums I've ever been to, and for a small donation admission. We made reservations since we went on a Saturday afternoon, but they turned out not to be necessary; most of the time there were only a few other patrons around. Almost all of the exhibits were unabashedly political— I dig it. We learned a lot about the island's fraught colonial history through the lenses of various Puerto Rican artists, including women and queer artists. Some standout exhibits were "Cüirtopia: Soft Crash" and "The Museum of the Old Colony." José Muñoz would love Cüirtopia's queer of color imaginings— beautiful and thought-provoking. As for the latter exhibit, if gringo tourists have any doubt that "territory" isn't just a sly synonym for "colony," the carefully curated photos help illuminate these ongoing histories. Be aware that some of the content of this museum deals with "mature" (and at times disturbing) subjects, so folks with little kids may want to peek in ahead of the kiddos. It was also fun to see the student art gallery on the bottom floor, so be sure to check it out (it's near the bathroom). Will definitely return in the future! Access notes: a ramp to enter the building; an elevator once inside to access galleries on upper and lower floors. Accessible gendered restrooms on the lowest floor. Gift shop is narrow, may not fit a...

Great place to visit if you want to be made to feel uncomfortable entering and walking around. Not much to see at the time of our visit except for 3 galleries with minimal art hanging on the walls that don’t compare to the type of experience entering the Moma, Brooklyn Museum of Art or The Met in New York for example. My pregnant wife asked for the restroom and we were led to the shop to purchase tickets/wristbands before we were told where they were located. After being provided with a wristband we were stopped a few feet away out of nowhere by an older lady and asked if we needed help in a way that made us feel unwelcomed as if we were scruffy, malintentioned children trespassing on her property. She opened her own gallery door to have a moment of policing & for some reason kept eyeballing our every move when around her as she utilized her folding fan. Spend your valuable vacation time elsewhere. Positive: there’s a video with a group of kids playing conch shells that we...