First museum in Southmost area to open

The first museum in the city’s Southmost area will open today with an exhibit by a local artist.

The Brownsville Heritage Center will open at 6 p.m. at the Brownsville Urban Center in Gonzalez Park, said Sara Martinez, programs coordinator for the Brownsville Historical Association. Harlingen artist Jennifer Rodriguez will have her art exhibit "Dichos" on display at the new museum.

Martinez said the museum is opening at the urban center — where a gym, swimming pool and other sports facilities are located — to make locals more aware of the museum.

"The area is a low-income area so the people are probably not as exposed to museum areas, as most other people in Brownsville," said Martinez. "And I think a lot of it also has to do with appealing to kids and to children and wanting them to know about Brownsville."

The Brownsville Historical Association will be in charge of all programming and events at the Brownsville Heritage Center.

The opening tonight will include a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Brownsville Chamber of Commerce. Brownsville City Commissioner Ricardo Longoria will speak. Tara Putegnat, president of the board of the Brownsville Historical Association, will also be present.

Martinez said permanent exhibits profiling the history of Southmost have not yet been installed.

"The way it’s set up," she said, "it’s going to be kind of moving through time. There’s going to be a little area with a model of a house that we have. And there will be exhibits about the development of the Southmost area from ranching and farming. I know I’m from Brownsville, and I’m learning things every day about the history that I never knew about."

Martinez said the inner gallery of the museum will hold temporary exhibits such as the Jennifer Rodriguez art exhibit, and the museum’s outer gallery will hold the permanent exhibits.

For more information, call the Brownsville Historical Association at 541-5560.