TLM opened its doors to Los Angeles and the world in the Fall of 1998. It was a long embryonic process to create the museum, initiating in 1986, with a feasibility study for a Latino history museum. In 1987, the museum was formally established as an American cultural institution in downtown LA, until 2012, when it lost its lease. Its mission and goal was to present exhibitions that celebrate the artistic contributions of Latinos in the United States and internationally. Its intention was to provide a rich diversity demonstration of the Latino/a experience and to collect significant examples of the artistic and cultural heritage of that community. This collection was donated by Denise Lugo, the director of the museum in 1995. (Ms. Lugo later became a professor of art history at California State University Channel Islands.) She presented such notable exhibitions at TLM as: "A Great American Leader – Cesar E. Chavez” (the first major art exhibition on this civil rights leader); “Dia de los Santos – Dia de los Muertos” (an exhibition of installations and three Guatemalan collections); “Veredas Argentinas – Argentine Pathways” (contemporary Argentine and Californian art); “La Patria Portatil” (Mexican cultural identity through calendar painting); “Young Quechua’s Wisdom – Warma Yachay” (Quechua children of the Peruvian Andes); ”Paul Sierra: A Cultural Corridor” (The work of a contemporary Chicano artist); and “Made in LA II” (youth graffiti murals).