There is a quiet, beautiful conversation happening inside the Orlando Museum of Art. In Echoes of the Ancient in Contemporary Voices, a living artist’s new work stands right beside treasures from the museum’s Art of the Ancient Americas Collection, and the two seem to speak across centuries.
The idea began in September 2025, when the museum’s curatorial team invited local artists of Hispanic and Latino heritage to respond to the ancient collection through personal heritage, ancestral knowledge and cultural continuity. Storytelling, ritual, craft and memory are at the heart of the invitation, reconnecting today’s makers with the sacred and symbolic power those objects once held.
This is an ongoing, single-work exhibition with a lovely rhythm. Selected artists exhibit one contemporary artwork alongside the collection for a month, and one or two new artists are presented each month. That means the gallery keeps changing, and a return visit rarely looks the same as the last one.
For visitors in Orlando, it is a gentle and rewarding way to see the permanent collection with fresh eyes. An ancient motif may echo in a modern texture, a family story may reframe an old symbol, and the region’s art gains new perspectives. Come curious, take your time, and let past and present introduce themselves.
Photo: Orlando Museum of Art
