Faustino Bernadett and his wife Martha Bernadett are excited for the launch of The Molina Family Latino Gallery opening at The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in 2022.
The Gallery is 4500 square feet of exhibition space and will be the first Smithsonian Latino Center's national Gallery dedicated to Latino history and culture. Created in 1997, the Smithsonian Latino Center collaborates throughout the Smithsonian and beyond to promote a national dialogue on the role of museums and cultural centers in advancing Latino-community cultural development.
The Molina Family Latino Gallery is named in recognition of the Smithsonian Latino Center's lead donors. The five children of Dr. C. David Molina collectively donated $10 million to support the Gallery.
The gallery space is also supported by Target, the corporate founding donor, with its gift to the Smithsonian Latino Center of $2 million.
The Molina Family Latino Gallery will serve as a forum for multigenerational audiences to engage in learning experiences. The programming is built on the Smithsonian Latino Center's learning-continuum framework, which focuses on three critical concepts: Experience, Learn and Transform.
Active learning programs will offer self-guided or facilitated programming through a variety of activities, including object-based, hands-on and digital. Program vehicles will include learning tables, active-learning carts, interpretive materials, ¡Descubra! family programs, exhibition touchables and low-tech interactives.
Digital education in the Molina Family Latino Gallery will use previous and existing digital, new media, and technology initiatives. Digital experiences will be offered inside and outside the Gallery to engage visitors with emerging technologies and tools. Program types will include distance learning, mixed-reality immersion, podcasts, and mobile broadcasts. The forthcoming Smithsonian Latino Center web gallery will extend the visitor experience and increase access to audiences across the nation.
Exhibitions in the Latino Gallery will present bilingual stories for multigenerational and cross-cultural audiences featuring multimedia, physical objects, and first-person voices. An introductory entry point will provide a framework for the histories and concepts presented in the Gallery and foster a dialogue with the core history exhibition.
The inaugural exhibition, ¡Presente! A Latino History of the United States, reveals how Latinos have shaped the nation since before its founding. Visitors will be invited to reexamine what they know about Latinos and U.S. history.
More information about The Molina Family Latino Gallery opening at The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History can be found here.
Faustino Bernadett is an alumnus of the University of California, San Francisco (U.C.S.F.) School of Medicine, he practiced anesthesia in Southern California before transitioning to the practice of pain management. After receiving an M.B.A., he used his leadership skills to start and lead medical groups and an independent practice association as a physician executive.
Bernadett is the vice president of The Molina Foundation. He currently serves on the U.C.S.F. Foundation board of overseers and has served several terms as a commissioner of the Hospitals and Healthcare Delivery Commission of Los Angeles County. He is a board member of the Smithsonian Latino Center and St. Mary Medical Center Foundation. In addition, he is a member of the Osler Society and an active member of the steering committee of the U.C.S.F. PRIME program.
The Bernadett/Chancellor's endowed scholarship at U.C.S.F. funds medical education for Spanish-speaking medical students. The Bernadetts are also active in transforming medical education through the U.C.S.F. Faustino and Martha Molina Bernadett Presidential Chair for Medical Education investiture.
In 2015, Bernadett was awarded "Top 150 Alumni of U.C.S.F. for the Last 150 years" by U.C.S.F. and the "Humanitarian Award" from the California Conference for Equality and Justice. In 2016, the 4-H National Council awarded him the "Distinguished Alumni Medallion" in recognition of his personal commitment to positive youth development and the 4-H mission.