Museums of Art and History in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

 

When you visit Old San Juan, you can spend a lot of time walking the streets, looking in the shops, and eating in the cafes. But there are two museums that offer excellent explorations into the history and art of Puerto Rico. They should be on the “to see” list for anyone who comes to San Juan.

Museo de las Americas

Cuartos de Ballaja

The Museo de las Americas (Museum of the Americas) was founded in 1992 with the purpose of exploring the history and culture of the Americas, with a focus on Puerto Rico. It has five permanent galleries and run two or three special shows at any given time. The museum has had sections closed recently, as its building has been undergoing an extensive renovation and modernization project, but when I was there in Feb. 2025, the newly redone Hall of Indigenous People was now open.

The main feature of the Hall of Indigenous People is a set of life-size statues by Felipe Lettersten (1953-2003), a Swiss-Peruvian artist. Lettersten would travel throughout the Americas, and spend time with groups of native people. He would find a volunteer and create a full-body plaster cast of that person, and use that to make a bronze sculpture., one from every tribe he visited.

There were two excellent special exhibits on display. One was Encuentro de los Cuentos Oculos (Encounter with Hidden Tales). This is the latest in a series of shows created by an artists collective in Florida. This show was organized with the National Museum of Puerto Rican Art and Culture in Chicago. It presents works from artists on the island and on the mainland.

Rituales del Intersticio by Martin Garcia Rivera

El Pájaro Líder by Rafael Rivera Rosa

Oh, Nación Descarada by Jose Feliciano Bonilla

Existencia Míistica by Juan Nieves Burgos

Niños Magos by Rigoberto Torres

The second was Betácoras Gráficas (Graphic Logs). This highlighted to works of three artists, Ada Rosa Rivera, Migdalia Umpierre, Yolanda Velázquez, who studied creating print making in Mexico at the same time. Together they founded Las Jornades del Grabando Puertorriqueño in 2003. Together they promote to creation and sale of printed art work.

Museo de San Juan

A few blocks away is the Museo de San Juan (San Juan Museum) where they were hosting an extensive show of lithographs and drawings by Pablo Picasso. There were more than 30 pieces on exhibit, covering the extent of his career, from his blue period in Barcelona through the 1970’s.

Bailarines

Genevieve

Untitled

La Femme au Châle

Mère et Enfant au Fichu

While these shows may all be closed by this publication date, these museums always have wonderful exhibitions. So head up to the top of Old San Juan when you are in town.

Nuts and Bolts

• Museo de Las Americas - Cuartos de Ballaja, Calle Beneficencia, 2nd floor. The museum is open Wed- Fri 9:00 -12:00 and 1:00 - 4:00 Sat & Sun 11:00 - 4:00. Entrance fees are Adults $6/ Seniors and Children $4
• Museo de San Juan - 150 Calle Norzagaray. Open Wed - Sun 9:00 - 4:00. Entrance is free at all times.

Fajardo, Puerto Rico

 

Puerto Rico is an island where history is around every corner. While you might think I am talking about Old San Juan or Ponce, this is even more true when you travel out to the towns around the island. On a recent trip, I visited the town of Fajardo, and got to take a walk through its historic center.

Fajardo is in the northeast corner of the island of Puerto Rico. Today, it is the home of the largest Marina in the Caribbean Sea. Most visitors to Puerto Rico know the town as the place to catch the ferry to Vieques or Culebra, or to start a day trip to one of the small coral islands for sun and snorkeling. Its large natural bay has made it a home for fishermen since its founding in the mid-18th century.

As in many of Puerto Rico’s towns, Fajardo’s center is a mix of buildings that span its history. Fajardo’s City Hall was built in 1898 and it has been expanded over the past century. Today, the complex includes local offices for commonwealth and federal agencies.

The Cathedral Santiago Apóstal (Cathedral of St. James the Apostle) is Fajardo’s primary Catholic Church. It is in the middle of the town’s main plaza.

Catedral Santiago Apóstal

Many of the buildings in the center of town were either rebuilt or renovated during the middle of the 20th century. These “new” structures maintain the framework of their origin, still visible when you look to their 2nd floor.

Scattered among these new buildings are some that date back further in time. While there are no plaques showing the date of construction, they are easily close to one-hundred hears old. Many of them are still in good shape.

One older place to visit is the Jiñi Jiñi Sports Bar, still serving its original purpose, and still drawing customers of all ages.

 

Our trip to Fajardo was to meet family for lunch at El Cayo Restaurant and Beach Club. It sits at the entrance to the Villa Marina Yacht Basin, Form their deck you have wonderful views of the entire bay, and from their kitchen you get delicious seafood dishes.

Many people visit PuertoRico and stay in the metropolitan area. They take commercial tours to the El Yunque Rain Forest, or that offer transfer to a catamaran to enjoy the sun and surf of one of the islands nearby. I recommend renting a car and exploring some of the 78 towns on the island, and Fajardo is a great place to start.

Nuts and Bolts

Fajardo is a 40 mile drive from San Juan. Take Route 26 east through San Juan and Carolina. You have a choice of taking route 66, and expressway with tolls, that bypasses all of the towns for the first half of the trip, or taking Route 3, similar to the main U.S. highways, with stores and restaurants along the way. 

The Bruce Museum, Greenwich Connecticut

 

Sitting on a hill in Greenwich, Connecticut, overlooking the center of town, is the Bruce Museum, one of those gems of a small museum that I search for. It is the kind of museum that has been endowed with an excellent collection of art, and also has mandate to include the natural sciences.

In 1858, Robert Bruce (1822-1908) bought a house and land in Greenwich, near the rail line to New York City, where he was a textile magnate. When Bruce died in 1908, he deeded the estate to the town of Greenwich to serve as a museum of science and art for the community. It opened in 1912 with an exhibit of the Cos Cob artist collective. In 1993 the Bruce underwent an extensive renovation, with a new building constructed around the original house. This building provides modern gallery space for the art exhibits.

Plexus No. 43 by Gabriel Dawe

The Bruce provides wonderful examples of how a small museum can present multiple show of really interesting art simultaneously. While these exhibits might be small (10-20 pieces) they offer some great works of art. The main show currently is Nature’s Impressions: The Modernist Landscape (ongoing). It is inspired by Childe Hassam, an American Impressionist painter who said about painting nature “The true impressionism is realism.” This show draws from the Bruce’s permanent collection, and presents paintings that sit on the border between impressionism and realism.

 

Harbor Scene by Edward Henry Potthast

Low Tide by Francis Silva

An Old Rail Fence by William H. Irvine

Stoney Brook by Henry Britt Selden

Railroad Bridge by Elmer Livingston McRae

The second show is The Art of Work: Painting Labor in 19th Century Denmark (through Nov. 30, 2025) Here, works form the collection of Amb. John L. Loeb Jr. give a fascinating look at the ways Danish artists painted the everyday lives of the people around them.

Self-portait by P.S. Krøyer

Sketch for Taking the Lifeboat through the Dunes by Michael Ancher

Harvest by L. A. Ring

Fisherman's wife Knitting by Michael Ancher

Other exhibits include some early works by David Hockney, and paintings from the collection of of William L. Richter of French Impressionsist and post-impressionist artists (through Aug 3, 2025). 

Procession of Dignitaries in the Semi Egyptian Style by David Hockney

Untitled (portrait of Bob Miller) by David Hockney

Diving Board by David Hockney

Factory on the Banks of the Oise River by Camille Pissarro

The Itallian Villa in Trouville by Gustave Caillebotte

But don’t forget the science! There are exhibits describing the current biomes in the Greenwich area, along with an exploration of the historical biology (dinosaurs!) in the area.

Iridescent rocks

The Bruce is adjacent to exit 3 of I-95 in Connecticut and just a short walk (0.3 miles) from the Greenwich MetroNorth Station.

Nuts and Bolts

• The Bruce Museum is open Tues - Sun 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
• Entrance fees are $20 Adults/ $15 Seniors and Students/ children under 5 are free.