Man seeks Ohio home for traveling Hispanic museum

5/6/2012

LORAIN, Ohio — A man who has spent 35 years collecting Central and South American cultural artifacts says he hopes to find his traveling museum a permanent home in the Ohio town that’s known by locals as the International City.

The Morning Journal in Lorain reports retired local school teacher Guillermo Arriaga has 3,000 items in his collection and is looking for space to display them in Lorain. The items include woodwork, paintings, a statue of an Aztec god and a traditional dress for Mexican girls.

Arriaga runs the mobile Museum of Hispanic and Latino Cultures, created in 2010. It has traveled to more than 15 locations, and Arriaga says some items are showing wear from traveling.

He hopes to keep them in Lorain, though Fremont, Cleveland and Columbus also expressed interest.