Reception Held for NBMAA Exhibit “The Museum of the Old Colony” by Pablo Delano

Photojournalism by Dr Frank Gerratana. Cover photo by Dr Frank Gerratana. Article staff report.

The New Britain Museum of American Art is hosting Pablo Delano’s “The Museum of the Old Colony” exhibit, which it says, ” is a conceptual, site-specific, and continually evolving project that confronts the complex legacies of U.S. colonial rule in Puerto Rico since the occupation of 1898.”

A reception was held today for the exhibit, with attendees including Rep Iris Sanchez (D-25), Lisa Lappe, the NBMAA’s chief Operating Officer, Mayor Bobby Sanchez (D), Rep Manny Sanchez (D-24) and Ald Alberto Borrero (D-3).

The Museum’s description of the exhibit points out that,

First colonized by Spain in 1493, Puerto Rico became a U.S. territory in 1898. While Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, the unincorporated U.S. territory is widely considered to be the world’s oldest colony. Thus, the title of The Museum of the Old Colony has an ironically playful double meaning, referring both to Puerto Rico’s political status and to a popular soft drink brand made and sold in Puerto Rico since the 1940s called Old Colony. The project is also deeply personal for Delano; a means to grapple and reckon with his lived experiences and the complex history of the land where he was born and raised.

“This exhibition,” the Museum says, “inaugurates Puerto Rico In Focus, a multiyear initiative at the New Britain Museum of American Art that centers Puerto Rican art and histories within the context of an American art museum.”

The exhibition is on view from March 14th through July 5, 2026, in the Robert & Dorothy Vance Gallery and Stitzer Family Gallery at the New Britain Museum of American Art. For more information regarding the installation and museum hours, visit nbmaa.org/exhibitions.