US museums are increasingly adopting bilingual and multilingual programming, primarily adding Spanish translations to wall texts, websites, and catalogs. Institutions like the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA) and MoMA PS1 in New York have led this shift, with MCA hiring bilingual staff and developing a bilingual website, while MoMA PS1 offers texts in Spanish, simplified Chinese, Arabic, Tagalog, and Bisaya for specific exhibitions. This trend responds to the fact that 14% of the US population speaks Spanish at home, and Latinx people represent a growing demographic in cities like Chicago.
This development matters because it represents a rare area of substantive progress for US museums amid declining attendance, disappearing federal grants, and waning equity efforts. While other countries routinely provide multilingual museum content, the US has historically resisted language accessibility due to political and cultural factors, including recent executive orders promoting English as the official language. By embracing bilingual offerings, museums are not only advancing their missions of inclusivity but also pursuing a practical strategy to attract new audiences and remain relevant in an increasingly diverse society.