¡Pleibol! In the Barrios and the Big Leagues / En los barrios y las grandes ligas

The history and culture of Latinos and their impact on American culture and society

through the lens of baseball will be shared in the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition

Service’s (SITES) new bilingual (Spanish and English) exhibition, Pleibol! In the Barrios and the Big Leagues / En los barrios y las grandes ligas. The exhibition will be on view at the Tucson Desert Art Museum (TDART) from January 14, 2023, to April 9, 2023.

Pleibol! In the Barrios and the Big Leagues / En los barrios y las grandes ligas was

organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in collaboration with the National Museum of American History. The exhibition received generous support from the Cordoba Corporation and Linda Alvarado, and federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. This exhibition is made possible locally with funding from a grant from Arizona Humanities; support from Adara Wealth Management and media sponsor, Tucson Lifestyle Magazine.

The exhibition captures the excitement of the game, from community baseball teams to

the Major League, highlighting how the game can bring people together regardless of race,

class, and gender. It will feature reproductions of historic and personal photographs, and

graphic elements as well as a short bilingual video produced by “La Vida Baseball.”

Throughout the 20th century in the United States and Latin America, baseball provided a

path for a better future. Workers in agriculture and industry in the United States used baseball to make ends meet and as a socially acceptable space to find community and organize for rights and justice.

Pleibol! In the Barrios and the Big Leagues / En los barrios y las grandes ligas has

been made possible through close collaborations with over 30 partners in 14 states,

Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico to help bring visibility to Latino community histories through baseball. Smithsonian curators collaborated with partners and local communities across the country to document and preserve baseball stories at the heart of Latino communities. The traveling exhibition will visit 15 cities through 2025.

To highlight how baseball has played a formative role in Tucson’s barrios, this local

exhibition also features archival photography that highlights the importance of baseball in

Tucson’s own local barrios, including Barrio Anita, as well as a collection of historic baseball

memorabilia from Arizona.

TDART will host events in connection with this exhibition, including: