Natalia Crujeiras
Exploring how cultural institutions can connect communities and build pride in place.
Originally from Mexico, Natalia Crujeiras moved to Miami, for a career in journalism, working at Univision, NBCUniversal Media, and the United States Agency for Global Media. With a heartfelt belief that every person and community has a story, she went on to serve as the director of cultural affairs at Miami Dade College, where she oversaw cultural powerhouses like the Miami Book Fair and Miami Film Festival.
In 2022, Crujeiras took on the leadership of the HistoryMiami Museum, a Smithsonian affiliate dedicated to preserving and celebrating Miami’s history as a unique crossroads of the Americas. In the museum’s 85-year history, Crujeiras is its first female and first Latina leader and is committed to transforming it into a dynamic, state-of-the-art space that unites Miami’s vibrant, yet often divided, communities.
2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and, like many cultural institutions, the HistoryMiami Museum plans to commemorate this milestone with a special exhibition highlighting Miami’s many communities and their unique identities. In advance of the exhibition, Crujeiras will embark on a personal research project exploring how cultural institutions foster civic identity. Through surveys, interviews, and observation, Crujeiras will build a methodology for measuring the impact that museum exhibitions and programs have on people and their sense of belonging.
Crujeiras’ research will inform this special exhibit, “Becoming Miamian,” opening in July 2026, as well as a mobile experience that will launch alongside it. At the same time, Crujeiras will create a toolkit for other cultural institutions based on her research, offering a framework for how they can strengthen community cohesion in their own unique contexts.