Established on the 13th of February 1960, the Lopez Museum and Library (then the Lopez Memorial Museum) housed primarily the prized works of Filipino master painters, Juan Luna, and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo, and prides itself in its ever-growing collection of Rizaliana memorabilia and Filipiniana materials. Hailed a university without professors by Claro M. Recto, the Lopez Museum and Library through its visual arts collection and its library holdings builds on history to foster national pride. Its founder’s initial vision of the institution fostering historical continuity has expanded to furthering prevailing relevance of its collection in the recent years.
The Lopez Museum and Library upholds its commitment to historical continuity and prevailing relevance. Staying true to its nature as an educational institution, its efforts are to present narratives both over-used and obscured to foster nation-building through the arts and through literature. Its exhibitions and programs are geared towards creating dialogue with history and creating spaces that make them relevant in the current day and age, fostering community remembering, and refusing uninformed revisionism. The institution not only promotes the stewardship and preservation of historical materials, but furthermore, encourages appreciation and deeper understanding, making it more than a storage space for objects, but an institution that enlivens and activates meaning.