Ponce & South Coast - Puerto Rico - page 278

to de Musica Juan Morel Campos, a music conservatory, across the street. The theater is
empty most of the year, but becomes an important performance center during festivals.
Museo de Arte de Ponce ART GALLERY
(MAP; www.museoarteponce.org , in Spanish; 2325 Av Las Américas; adult/senior &
student $6/3; 10am-5pm) Brush Strokes In Flight, a bold primary-colored totem by
American pop artist Roy Lichtenstein, announces the smartly remodeled MAP, where an
expertly presented collection ranks among the best in the Caribbean. It is itself worth the
trip from San Juan. A $30 million renovation celebrated the museum's 50th anniversary
and the smart curation - some 850 paintings, 800 sculptures and 500 prints, presented in
provocative historical and thematic juxtapositions - represents five centuries of Western
art. The greatest-hits collection of Puerto Rican painters is stirring (look for the wall-sized
Ponce by Rafael Ríos Rey in the rear of the museum). The building's blanched edifice,
winged central stair and hexagonal galleries were designed by architect Edward Durell
Stone, who created Washington DC's Kennedy Center and the MOMA in New York. The
exceptional pre-Raphaelite and Italian baroque collections, which traveled to the Prado and
Tate museums during the 2009-10 renovation, are offset by impressive installations and
special exhibits (which occasionally cost a small extra fee).
A complete tour of the museum takes about three hours, but if you only have time for
a quick peek, spend some time sitting in awe of Edward Burne-Jones's ghostly, half-fin-
ished The Sleep of Arthur in Avalon (look for the unfinished, blank eyes of the attending
queens) and Lord Leighton's erotic Flaming June, the museum's sensual showpiece. Set
across from the Universidad Católica, the MAP is about 10 blocks to the south of Plaza Las
Delicias.
Museo de la Música Puertorriqueña MUSEUM
( www.icp.gobierno.pr ; cnr Reina Isabel & Salud; admission $1; 8:30am-4:30pm
Tue-Sun) After the MAP, this spacious pink villa designed by Juan Bertoli Calderoni, fath-
er of Puerto Rico's neoclassical style, offers Ponce's best museum experience. A guided
tour showcases the development of Puerto Rico's sound, allowing hands-on demonstrations
of indigenous instruments. The collection of Taíno, African and Spanish instruments - es-
pecially the handcrafted four-string guitar-like cuatros and three-string trios - and careful
explanation of Puerto Rican musical traditions are highlights. The museum also hosts a
three-week seminar on drum building in July, and holds concerts in its courtyard.